Rockwood Staffing Models Changed at Elementary, Middle School Levels

In addition to a building principal, according to Rockwood School District materials, each Rockwood school was to receive:

• an extra lead teacher for buildings with less than 450 enrollment;
• an administrative intern at buildings from 450 to 549 student enrollment; and
• an assistant principal for elementary buildings exceeding 550 students.

At least that was the policy prior to Thursday evening's Rockwood Board of Education extra meeting.

At the board meeting, Rockwood's Executive Director of Pre-K and Elementary Education Karen Hargadine recommended every elementary building have a building principal and an administrative intern (up to 549 students) and a building principal and assistant principal in elementary buildings exceeding 550 students.

The net budget impact of this proposal is $226,645 for 2013-14.

Rockwood's Executive Director of Secondary Education Jim Wipke also recommended a change in middle school administrative staffing.

In the 2011-12 school year, he said an open assistant principal’s position at Crestview Middle School was reduced to an administrative intern due to a decline in enrollment, which at that time was 1,211 students, according to district sources. Since that time, enrollment has increased to 1,238 students, so now administrators recommended the elimination of the administrative intern’s position and a return to the assistant principal’s position.

The projected enrollment for the 2013-14 school year for Crestview Middle School is 1,261.

Changing this position to an assistant principal would provide Crestview Middle School with four administrators (a principal and a grade level assistant principal for each grade 6-8), which was their staffing level before the change, said Wipke. The net budget impact of this proposal is $20,101 for 2013-14. 

Board of education directors voted unanimously to adopt these recommendations.

The net outcome of these actions is that for 2013-14, lead teacher positions in the following elementary schools will be replaced with administrative interns:  Bowles in Fenton, Eureka in Eureka, Pond in Wildwood and Westridge in Ballwin. Assistant principals at two of the district's elementary schools also will be replaced with administrative interns at Babler in Wildwood and Woerther in Ballwin.

At Crestview Middle School in Ellisville, the result is one administrative intern position will be replaced with one assistant principal position.