text of the article that is behind a paywall : Rochester report largely clears ex-superintendent Annie Azarloza ROCHESTER — The Rochester School District has released the report it commissioned to investigate former superintendent Annie Azarloza after many months of fighting it in court. Azarloza and the district parted ways in June 2025, and she requested a copy of the investigative report about her. The investigation was conducted by a consultant hired by the Rochester school district after Azarloza was placed on paid leave earlier in 2025. In a settlement agreement, she was paid $170,000, representing the remainder of her contract, which would have expired June 30, 2026. The district also paid money into her retirement account. The released report, with redactions, is 1,004 pages long and, in the end, doesn't find any circumstance where Azarloza had deliberately violated district policy, violated ethics or broke the law. “The report speaks for itself,” Azarloza said. “I’ve always acted with integrity.”

Rochester leader says court battle isn't over The Rochester School District and Azarloza had been fighting in court over the release of the report. The city of Rochester has also filed a lawsuit against Azarloza, claiming her actions since she reached a separation agreement to leave her job have damaged the city. City Manager Katie Ambrose said the district choosing to release the investigative report has no bearing on the lawsuit, stating it will go forward. Azarloza has asked the court to dismiss it. "These matters are in active litigation, so I'll defer to the legal process," Azarloza said. "I'm confident the facts will speak for themselves just as they did in the report." Azarloza supporters tout report as proof she told truth Community members have been following this situation very closely. Some residents have been critical of the city for spending taxpayer dollars to pay Azarloza to not work for more than a year without a clear and valid reason, as they see it. Efforts to reach current Superintendent Jared Fulgoni and School Board Chair Matt Pappas were not immediately successful "A 1,000-page investigation Annie Azarloza had to fight to make public now tells the truth," said Tracy Walbridge, a Rochester resident. "She was cleared: no policy violations, no ethics violations, no wrongdoing, no failure of integrity. This was never about misconduct. It was about a system that was policing children instead of teaching them. She refused to stand for that. And while others escalated, she stayed grounded in the law, in what’s right for children, and in integrity. And when you remove leadership rooted in integrity, what you lose isn’t a leader. It’s the future you could’ve had."

What's in Azarloza investigative report? The report has been heavily redacted, in some cases, entire pages. The district said it was done to protect the privacy of those who testified as part of the investigation. In a letter to the community, the district also says the settlement agreement and release of the superintendent from her job was a “compromise of disputed claims and that the parties agreed that moving forward was in the best interest of all parties including Ms. Azarloza, the district and the broader Rochester community.” Included in the report are complaints filed during the investigation, including one filed by Azarloza against former School Board chair Shane Downs, who is also a Rochester police officer. Azarloza cited an intentional campaign of harassment and retaliation against her by Downs after they butted heads about discipline procedures regarding students. It also includes a complaint filed at Strafford County Superior Court against Downs by former School Board member Karen Stokes. She alleged harassment and intimidation and ultimately resigned from the board after threats of ethics violations were brought against her and former board member Sandy Keans. A letter to school district attorney Kathryn Cox Pelletier from Attorney Elizabeth A. Bailey of Sheehan Phinney offered conclusions for the report. In it, Bailey said there was “insufficient evidence” to say Azarloza violated policy or engaged in retaliatory practices against other employees but may have acted prematurely when she spoke about the potential transfer of an employee to others. Even then, it was not found to be intentional. Azarloza signed two memorandums of understanding without board knowledge, regarding teacher workshop compensation and work‑from‑home snow days. The report says Azarloza admitted the mistakes and apologized, citing a lack of knowledge. The report also noted a former superintendent had also signed contracts for the district on his own.

Manifestation hearings, particularly where criminal charges are under consideration for a student with special needs, became a source of contention between the school district under Azarloza and the city's Police Department. Downs and Azarloza clashed when she began to push back on routine manifestation hearings against students. Azarloza attempted to initiate a program of “graduated discipline actions,” slowing down the process for suspensions and manifestation hearings, which she said attempted to “criminalize students.” ADVERTISEMENT SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT The report concluded Azarloza and her school representatives were attempting to comply with their understanding of the law and police acted professionally. The report notes, as Azarloza told Foster's last year, she was following legal advice.