Rockwood School District New Calendar Presented

Rockwood School District Board of Education directors agreed at Thursday's board meeting to postpone the approval of the proposed 2014-2015 calendar until they meet again this Thursday, Jan. 17.

Rockwood's director of human resource Katie Reboulet presented the proposed dates Thursday, and said an annual school-year calendar is routinely presented two years prior for community planning's sake. Editor's Note: A PDF of the proposed calendar accompanies this article.

She said this year's committee members worked with important parameters, such as the school district's requirement for students to attend 180 days, and to have 190 teacher-paid days.

"When the goal at the fall meeting is for the first semester to end by winter break, it (calendar dates) becomes a math problem. That drives when school will start," said Reboulet.

She said other parameters are driven by agreements with the Rockwood National Education Association (RNEA), such as a half day of school on the last day of school.

"We came up with several options, and discussed what is most ideal," said Reboulet, who also stated the proposed calendar suggestion was offered as a unanimous recommendation from committee members.

Board director Keith Kinder asked why half days were on different days of the week, with the A, B, C rotations. "The calendar also contains districtwide professional development, which is not the decision of the calendar committee," said Reboulet.

She said staff development days also were based on transportation and development needs, and had been adjusted for late-start school times.

Rockwood calendar committee members first met Sept. 18 to discuss the parameters for developing a school calendar. They also reviewed the October 2010 Parent/Staff survey data, asd well as the 2014-15 calendar with set holidays and negotiated items.

Next, they met on Oct. 10 to review four calendar options. They developed a pro/con list for each of the 2014-15 school calendar options, before drafting a a consensus calendar to share with others for feedback.

They then met on Nov. 8 to to share feedback from community residents regarding calendar options, and made final recommendations for the 2014-15 school calendar.

Calendar Committee Members:

Facilitator:  Dr. Katie Reboulet, Rockwood Director of Human Resource     

Suzanne Dotta, RNEA President                                                     

Julie McDonnell, Staff Development                                               

Dr. Dan Ramsey, High School Administrator                               

Carl Hudson, High School Administrator                                     

Dr. Dawn Portwood, Middle School Administrator                       

Dr. Amy Digman, Elementary Administrator                                 

Kristin Clemons, ECSE Process Coordinator                             

Barbara Mennel, High School Secretary                                    

Lee Mitchell, High School                                                                 

Angela Kohout, Middle School 

Leanne Cantu, Adventure Club

David Downs, Communications

Lorie Nortrup, Elementary School

Kristina Rieman, Elementary School

Stephanie Lombardo, Elementary School

Sr. Rosario Delaney, Holy Infant Principal

Dr. Matt Dieckhaus, ILC Coordinator  

Jill Hampton, President Forum

Maren Bunderson, Parent

Veronica Leach, Parent

Michele Westenhaver, Middle School