Schools

'Do Not Punish Children Because You're Angry With 7 Adults,' Says Rockwood BOE President

VIDEO: Rockwood School District's Board of Education president Janet Strate delivers her personal take on recent developments about the state audit at the end of Thursday's board meeting. She relayed: "Compromise is not a four-lett

Janet Strate, Rockwood School District's Board of Education president, offered the following insights at the end of Thursday's board meeting at Crestview Middle School in Ellisville.

Following are verbatim statements:

As I complete my third term as a Rockwood board member, there are a few final comments I would like to make and then we will adjourn.

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First, as I reflect back on the past nine years, I want to thank our employees, parents and citizens for the privilege of serving. I have learned so much from all of you! I would also like to publicly thank my family for putting up with countless meetings, phone calls, and the overall Rockwood drama that has taken over my life for the past nine years.

Through all the criticism, there seems to be a misperception that as a board member, we can control much of what is happening. That is simply not true. The first lesson anyone will learn as a board member is that you need three other friends on the board who will go along with you. The majority rules. As an individual, you may voice an opinion, but it will go nowhere unless three other people on the board agree with you.

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Compromise—is not a four-letter word!! If you are successful, you will find a way to compromise through the toughest decisions.

The board has two primary jobs:  Hire the superintendent and approve the budget. Once you start muddling in the day-to-day operations, you've become management and completely lost your ability to be objective.

The audit pointed out some very old practices that have been questioned for years by many board members. As a board member, our job is not to audit contracts. It is the CFO's responsibility to know what he or she is paying out. As a board, we are to trust that we have put the right people in the right jobs.

We have taken the audit seriously. Please stop confusing the word "disagreement" with "confusion." When we pointed out that we had two legal opinions on what Steve Smith could vote on, and the auditor said that those opinions were wrong—we were confused, not disagreeing.

I said this 11 months ago and I believe it today—we have one of the best boards the public could ask for. We are all very independent thinkers. We do not agree on every issue. We come from very diverse backgrounds. We sit here because we are passionate about different causes.

It has been a privilege to serve with these members.

However, no one can question that we share one common bond—we are all passionate about our 22,000 students and what is best for this district.

The reason we felt the bond issue was imperative at this time was because our No. 1 goal is to be the best public school district in Missouri. It had nothing to do with politics.

In conclusion, it has been a pleasure to serve. Please do not punish the children of Rockwood because you are angry with seven adults. The kids don't deserve to be in the middle of our disagreements. In doing whatever it takes, it means you put the kids ahead of your politics!

I have spent much time this week reading and re-reading a specific chapter from the Bible:  Romans 12. The final sentence, verse 21, says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Thank you.

 


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