Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Rockwood School District's financial and legislative affairs officer says district leaders are committed to continuous improvement. He is leading the way toward responding to a variety of matters identified by the Missouri State Auditor's staff.
Rockwood School District administrators busily are addressing the recommendations delivered by the Missouri State Auditor's staff on Feb. 27 regarding results of their performance audit of the district. Rockwood's financial and legislative affairs officer Tim Rooney told Board of Education directors and attendees at Thursday's meeting they are getting more effective in important areas, as identified by the audit, as they serve students, families, staff and community. A performance audit includes a review of cash control procedures, expenditures, payroll, capital assets, vehicles and fuel usage and compliance with state laws and district policies. The last time a state performance audit was done with Rockwood, prior to this year's audit, …
Friday, March 22, 2013
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: "Thoughtful individuals who seek 'truth' attempt to weigh and evaluate the expertise, professionalism and credibility of those making claims," says one Rockwood School District parent.
“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” Marcus Aurelius Well, there are some facts, but then there is a LOT of opinion swirling around some parts of our community. Let’s start with some known facts, and then we’ll take a look at some opinions. Fact: Rockwood School District received a “Fair” rating in the February audit by the Missouri State Auditor team. Fact: Only two school districts, both much smaller than Rockwood, received higher ratings from the state auditing team. Fact: “Fair” is the most common school district audit rating. Now, let’s look at the opinions. Some opinions are worth more than others. Everything we hear or read is someone’s opinion, based on their …
Saturday, March 9, 2013
VIDEO: Rockwood School District's Board of Education president Janet Strate delivers her personal take on recent developments about the state audit at the end of Thursday's board meeting. She relayed: "Compromise is not a four-letter word."
Janet Strate, Rockwood School District's Board of Education president, offered the following insights at the end of Thursday's board meeting at Crestview Middle School in Ellisville. Following are verbatim statements: As I complete my third term as a Rockwood board member, there are a few final comments I would like to make and then we will adjourn. First, as I reflect back on the past nine years, I want to thank our employees, parents and citizens for the privilege of serving. I have learned so much from all of you! I would also like to publicly thank my family for putting up with countless meetings, phone calls, and the overall Rockwood drama that has taken over my life for the past nine years. Through all the criticism, there seems to …
Friday, March 1, 2013
FOURTH IN SERIES THIS WEEK: Rockwood School District leaders issued official responses to the Missouri State Auditor team. But truly reading the document of exchanges between the two entities begs the question of whether it's a case of 'Which Is It?'
Anyone who attended Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich's presentation Wednesday evening regarding audit findings of the Rockwood School District was handed a single-spaced, 25-page document. The presentation started promptly at 5:30 p.m. and ended just as promptly at 6:09 p.m. Several months of detailed, investigative information and a quick-talking, but insightful, state auditor was a lot to immediately soak in. While pieces from the nine "categories" of findings were pulled out by some St. Louis media sources to hurriedly spotlight, actually reading the lengthy document—including Rockwood's response to the auditors—provides a more intriguing overview. As a reader convenience and to cut to some key points of consideration, Patch is …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Lack of ample competitiveness was a major theme of Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich and a team of investigators' full audit report of Rockwood School District, St. Louis County's largest school district, presented Wednesday evening.
Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich said Wednesday evening that Rockwood School District overpaid Glenn Construction company more than $1.2 million for change orders for work not contemplated in original contracts. Several findings need immediate attention, he told the audience of approximately 100 Wednesday night at Lafayette High School in Wildwood. "Many of the findings were not serious or fraud, however. That’s the important factor." Scheich said his staff collectively spent 2,000 hours on the Rockwood audit. "If we would have charged the district to conduct it, which we did not, it would have cost $70,000. We put our top team on it," he said. "I wanted to have our best and most experienced professionals on this one, due to Rockwood's …
Comments regarding the Missouri State audit results of Rockwood School District varied from "shocking" to "disappointing" to "confident." Now everyone is setting out to digest the voluminous details in the audit report.
As the third largest school district in Missouri, State Auditor Tom Schweich admitted that $208 million within Rockwood School District is a large amount of cash flow to follow. "We’ve audited a lot of entities, and I did find a positive attitude here in Rockwood, with the board. Let's wait and see after 90 days what's been done with the recommendations," Schweich said. At that point, a state auditing follow-up team will return to do a second report. Schweich said they will determine a status for all the nine major categories of the report, citing items one of three ways: implemented, in process or not implemented. "I’m optimistic the matters we've highlighted in our audit report will be fixed," he said. Read related articles: Rockwood …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
LIVE FROM PRESENTATION: Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich reveals what his team of investigators identified in a full audit of St. Louis County's largest school district.
The first state audit of the Rockwood School District since 1994 rated the district "fair" on a scale that ranged from excellent, to good, to fair and finally, to poor. Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich presented the results to the district at 5:30 p.m. today at Lafayette High School Theater in Wildwood. Prior to the official presentation, Rockwood Superintendent Bruce Borchers told Patch the audit points to some issues that span the past decade. "Given the size of our district, there is always room for improvements. We care about our students, and I will continue to make the best decisions I can for those 22,000 students," said Borchers. Patch was at the meeting and will provide ongoing coverage before and after Schwiech's presentation…
Monday, February 25, 2013
The public is invited to attend this presentation regarding audit findings of the Rockwood School District, the first new one in almost two decades.
Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich just announced Monday midmorning he will present results of his team's recent audit of the Rockwood School District at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Lafayette High School Theater in Wildwood. Schweich will take questions from the audience as well. Read previous article: Rockwood Audit Cost Actually is Unknown Says Missouri Auditors' Staffer Spence Jackson, media director and spokesperson for Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich and staff, told Patch in July this audit was partially due to concerns voiced from a Rockwood watchdog coalition group called Rockwood Stakeholders for Real Solutions. RS for RS representatives began a petition drive during the fall of 2011 for a state audit of the district, but the …
Friday, February 1, 2013
Rockwood Stakeholders for Real Solutions representatives say a pending Missouri auditor’s report is expected to be on the mind of voters on April 2.
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Friday, February 1
Editor's Note: The following was provided as a news release from RS for RS, which is a self-described non-partisan group of taxpaying Rockwood School District citizens who seek transparency, fiscal responsibility and inclusion of parents and taxpayers in the decision-making process of the district. Rockwood Stakeholders for Real Solutions coalition citizens announced their concerns over the Rockwood School District Board of Education directors voting to put another ballot issue on the April 2 ballot. As an advocate group for taxpayers, parents, employees and students of the Rockwood School district, RS for RS feels the Board and district officials need to work on rebuilding the community’s trust and credibility, which was lost over the …
Friday, July 13, 2012
When Rockwood Stakeholders for Real Solutions members confirmed the Rockwood School District would be audited by state officials, they viewed it as a sign their efforts as concerned citizens had been successful...and they issued a press release.
There was never a "leak" to the press about the Rockwood School District audit, said Rockwood Stakeholder for Real Solutions (RS for RS) co-founder Eileen Tyrrell, after Thursday night's comments made at the Rockwood School District Board of Education meeting. See related article from Friday morning: Missouri Auditors Now Call Rockwood Evaluation a 'Performance Audit' She said a RS for RS representative called the Missouri State Auditor's Office at the end of January to inquire if the Rockwood district had made the 2012 audit list. "The answer was yes," she emailed Patch Friday morning. "We, in turn, put out a press release! The Auditors' Office DID NOT leak it to the press. "RS for RS 'informed' the press." Editor's Note: Content of that…
Nancy Robinson
4:24 pm on Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Tim Rooney is a great asset to the district and Dr. Borchers hand-picked him. We need to acknowledge that he made a wise selection in hiring Mr. Rooney. I also appreciate how we can follow along with the progress of the action steps needed for the Auditor's return. That was a smart idea. more ›