Schools

Rockwood: Meeting After 'The Meeting'

About 15 of those who attended Rockwood School District's board of education governance retreat June 25 then gathered on the district's parking lot. Tonight is the second half of the retreat.

Call it the meeting after the meeting.

Approximately 15 people who attended the first 30 minutes of the Rockwood School District board of education in Eureka on June 25 and had spoken one-on-one with district directors and staff that morning then met in the parking lot to share their views and questions. The retreat was held at the district's .

Tonight, board of education (BOE) directors will have the other half of their retreat. Some Rockwood-related residents indicated they would like to engage the directors again at this meeting.

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However, BOE director Matt Doell, in comments posted on Eureka-Wildwood Patch, reminded residents that directors would be available before or after the meeting, but that the agenda for this particular meeting was really internally focused. This is a once-a-year retreat for which the agenda traditionally does not contain time to interact with guests, although the gathering is considered to be a public meeting.

Controversy and reactions to the and overall spending decisions led to Rockwood parents and taxpayers wanting to engage with district representatives for direct interactions. As a result, several developments have occurred since the retreat date: the Concerned Patrons of Rockwood (CPR) hosted a in Wildwood, an advocacy coalition was formed entitled Rockwood Stakeholders for Real Solutions, and five people asked during the board's latest school board meeting.

Find out what's happening in Eureka-Wildwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Conversely, just before the recent concerns expressed districtwide, district communicators announced in June that Rockwood earned the "What Parents Want Award."

Rockwood was one of 29 Missouri school districts to receive national recognition from an educational research firm called SchoolMatch for meeting the needs of families choosing schools. Only 16 percent of the nation's public school districts met the criteria outlined by SchoolMatch, which specializes in rating K-12 schools, according to a Rockwood district news release.     

The release indicated the award selection was based on the criteria parents most often look for in a school, including:

  1. competitive in academic test scores and academically solid, but not so rigorous as to intimidate their children
  2. accredited
  3. recognized for excellence by a national foundation or by the U.S. Department of Education
  4. competitive in teacher salaries
  5. above average in instructional expenditures on a national percentile basis
  6. above average in expenditures for library/media services on a national percentile basis
  7. known for small class size
  8. availability of programs at the secondary level.

The stated agenda for tonight's board session includes action plans, 2011-2012 initiatives, managing improvement initiatives for the upcoming school year, and superintendent's goals. It will be held at the Administrative Center as well, starting at 5 p.m.


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