Rochester school board members have been sent back into "search" mode after negotiations with its choice for superintendent broke down.

The board had selected Ithaca Superintendent Luvelle Brown, to fill the position vacated by Bolgen Vargas at the end of last year. But in a statement released earlier today, the board said that it had been unable to reach an agreement with the finalist it had selected.

The board doesn't have to start all over in its search, though; it had already vetted several other candidates. And while Interim Superintendent Linda Cimusz had originally planned to leave at the end of June, the board's statement says she has agreed to stay with the district through July 2016. The statement doesn't give a timeline for the selection process.

In an interview with an Ithaca radio station yesterday, Brown said that he would not be leaving his current position.

"I'll stay in Ithaca as long as the board of education and community wants me to," Brown said during an interview Tuesday with WHCU radio. Brown cited his children's enrollment in ICSD as a factor in his decision.

The board has conducted a closed search process, which has drawn some criticism. But board President Van White has defended the process, saying that it has resulted in a pool of stronger candidates to choose from.