Taking Care of Business was Focus of Rockwood School Board Meeting

Amidst the atypical activities swirling around Rockwood School District's board of education directors, Thursday night's mission was to take care of the typical responsibilities.

A $9,300 expenditure for the district's annual membership in the National School Board Association was discussed but tabled for future discussion at the meeting, which was held at in Ellisville. The association, which has existed since 1940, is a grassroots leadership organization that advocates for equity and excellence in public education.

One significant change to note is Rockwood leaders' decision to amend the organization's current agreement with the National Education Association (NEA). Kelvin McMillin, Rockwood's assistant superintendent of human resources, said many administration-related positions anchored from the district's annex office have been reorganized.

"Curriculum coordinator positions have been eliminated, and replaced by a new position called content facilitators," said McMillin.

He said the curriculum coordinator positions previously were at administrator levels, whereas the new positions were placed at the teacher-level designation, with certain contract additions. These positions, no matter the title, are pivotal in setting the direction of core educational segments, such as language arts and math.

"In essence, the new positions are a teacher's contract compensation plus 20 days," he said.

McMillin said it was too early to tell what financial savings would be realized by this reclassification move. "People who had the curriculum jobs can reapply, but all the positions will be filled through the typical human resources process. So ultimately, the total amount of money represented by the new hires will reflect a variety of variables, such as their years of education, years in education, and the level of education they hold," he said.

The new content facilitator positions will be represented through the NEA, along with three, new teacher-level data analysts positions for which professionals still need to be hired.

McMillin said the contracts for curriculum coordinator positions run through June 30, so no changes will be made until after that period.

Another update made was to the district's sick leave policy in the form of a human resources benefit to Rockwood's retiring employees. Scott Tate, CPA and the district's director of finance, said the previous sick leave policy provided retirees with a lump sum that was taxable upon leaving the district.

Tate said the new policy enables Rockwood School District retirees to deposit some portion of the financial tally into tax-deferred retirement accounts. "Rockwood retirees now could leave the funding in accounts without having to pay the taxes right away," he said.

Also at the meeting, school board directors received a presentation regarding the district's five-year technology plan. The current plan expires June 30. Recommendations for the new technology plan were related to the following areas: student performance, global awareness, having a qualified workforce, stakeholder involvement, instructional resources and district policies or regulations.

Additionally, a new agreement with Rockwood School District custodians regarding hourly ranges was approved. The hourly scope in compensation for custodians ranges from $10.56 per hour to $19.59, depending on level of experience and location of buildings.

Editor's Note: This article was updated at 1:30 p.m. to reflect that the Rockwood school board directors actually decided to table the decision about the National School Board Association annual fee; this occurred after I left the meeting when the directors went into a lengthy closed session.