Rockwood School District's Board of Education Reorganizes

Three new directors for Rockwood School District's board of education were sworn in at Thursday night's board meeting:  Keith Kinder, Steve Smith and Matt Doell.

"None of us have power unless we're together," said Smith, of Eureka, to fellow Rockwood directors in some of his first words as the group's newly elected president.

Other board officers elected by the group were Janet Strate, vice president; Shirley Broz, treasurer; and Kathy Chitwood, secretary. Chitwood also serves as administrative assistant to Rockwood Superintendent Bruce Borchers.

"Participating in a campaign is a humbling experience," said Smith. "A different song was being sung by voices in the district. They bear listening. But one song was out of tune—the one about our teachers are not good people."

Smith said when people say is a good district, he knew they were not really talking about him or necessarily the board or staff. "They are talking about the people we put in classrooms with our children. I'd like to go on record tonight about the fact that we value our teachers and the work they do for our children."

Directors took turns reciting various components of the district's code of ethics, and agreed as a group to abide by them.

Rockwood's Chief Communications Officer Kim Cranston distributed material at the meeting labeled as unofficial election results from April 5. The sheet stated that of 81,632 registered voters covered by the district, a total of 79,945 resided in St. Louis County. The remaining amount, 1,687, were registered voters from Jefferson County who are covered by Rockwood.

Cranston said certified election results, which can be deemed official, should be received within two to three weeks.

Unofficial April 5 Election Results as Distributed by Rockwood School District on April 7:

7,068 (24.41%)