Rockwood $38.4M No-Tax Increase Bond Approved for April Ballot

Rockwood School District's Board of Eduction directors approved a resolution to place a no-tax increase bond onto the April 2 ballot at Thursday's board meeting. The St. Louis County Board of Election deadline for all spring ballot issues is 5 p.m. on Jan. 22.

Prior to the meeting, the suggested amount to place on the ballot was $36.6 million, which was consistent with recommendations from the recent Picture Rockwood process and the amount discussed at last Thursday's board meeting. That breakout is presented in the table within this article.

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Rockwood's bond issues projects can be summarized as:

However, board director Bill Brown initiated a conversation Thursday evening about the cafeteria and kitchen needs in Uthoff Valley and Stanton Elementary schools, which he said were equal to the needs of Eureka Elementary already included in the $36.6 million tally.

Board vice president Matt Doell, an engineer by profession, said the electrical system at Eureka Elementary meets code, but that people can reach up with a rake, shovel or other long apparatus, and touch the electrical lines in Eureka Elementary's kitchen/cafeteria area. He asked if the other two schools were in the same type of condition.

Rockwood's assistant superintendent of administrative services Dennis Griffith said Stanton doesn’t have the electrical equipment issue, but that "you can't swing a dead cat in the school's kitchen." He also said Uthoff has its early childhood center in its cafeteria area, forcing them to have multiple lunch shifts. So, the challenge at the other two elementaries is space.

Griffith said seven other cafeteria and kitchen facilities had been listed on the 2011 bond issue, and that these three had been triaged recently as the worst.

Picture Rockwood Larry Feuerstein said the committee had agreed to use the definition of "essential" as the determining factor for what should be placed on the bond-related list, with Eureka's electrical issue deemed that. However, Brown said the committee didn't get to vote on the list, that it was the Rockwood cabinet members (directors who report to Superintendent Bruce Borchers) who decided to leave off the other two kitchen/cafeteria projects.

When director Sherri Rogers asked why not all three kitchen projects were included, Griffith said the group had been trying to "stay south of $40 million for the bond issue."

"We had a long and passionate discussion two weeks ago about all this. In my opinion, the other two kitchen projects are just as needed," said Brown.

Brown moved to increase the proposed bond amount to $38.4 million to accommodate the other two kitchens as well; the motion passed 4-7, with Doell and director Steve Banton voting no. Doell said he was hesitant to have a public process that resulted in a specific dollar amount, and then not follow it.

Director Steve Smith recommended making the bond amount $39 million because there are no contingencies included as it stands.

"I think we need to be careful, to stay pure to the process, and to stay close to the exact amount," said Board president Janet Strate.

She said the bond consideration stemmed from community feedback resulting from the four-month Picture Rockwood process. "This is what the community is wanting. It's not a levy; it’s a bond issue, and it works within the 68-cent capacity that we have."

The ballot language will be stated as follows:

Proposition S:

Shall the Rockwood R-6 School District, St. Louis County, Missouri, issue its general obligation bonds in the amount of $36.6 Million Dollars ($36,600,000) for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, renovating, repairing, improving, furnishing and equipping school sites, buildings and related facilities in the District, including but not limited to (1) safety and health measures, (2) technology infrastructure and classroom technology and (3) maintenance of current facilities by continuing to fund major capital repairs and improvements, resulting in no estimated increase in the debt service property tax levy? If this proposition is approved, the adjusted debt service levy of the District is estimated to remain unchanged at sixtyeight cents ($0.68) per one hundred dollars assessed valuation of real and personal property.

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Rockwood board directors voted unanimously to place a $38.4 million bond on the April ballot. "I think we should do what we are asked to do (by community patrons)," said Doell.

Not all Rockwood patrons may be in support of the current outcome. Leaders of a volunteer coalition group, Rockwood Stakesholders for Real Solutions, who state members want transparency within Rockwood, recently communicated in its blog that "district leaders and officials have lost the trust and confidence of the stakeholders, a fact fully substantiated by multiple comments and concerns found in the recent Online Survey Verbatim Responses 1212 taken as part of the Picture Rockwood community engagement process. However, it is still business as usual with board members and district leaders."