Borchers’ Contract Extension

On Feb. 24, the Rockwood Board of Education directors voted to extend Superintendent Bruce Borchers’ contract until June 30, 2016.

The vote was 4-3 being in favor of the contract extension.

Board members who voted in favor of Borchers’ extension were Steve Banton, Matt Doell, Keith Kinder and Janet Strate.

Board President Strate said, “Dr. Borchers has had a student achievement focus demonstrated by the implementation of the vision scorecards.  We believe that student success should be at the forefront of our decisions.”

However, there were three Board members who voted against the extension: Bill Brown, Sherri Rogers and Steve Smith.

Regarding the distrust of the district felt by many, Bill Brown said, “I don’t believe we can ignore the information and feedback we have received from some of our staff and community members.  They have made it clear it’s time for a fresh start and a change in direction.”

Borchers has been the Superintendent of Rockwood since July 1, 2010.  According to the Rockwood website, he has requested no salary increase. His current salary is $234,600.

Borchers said he is thankful for his contract extension.

“I just want to make sure we’re focusing on the right things, and that is talking about students.  Too often through this year we’ve been talking too much about adults.  There are some great things happening and we need to have that be the conversation,” he said.

Board of Education Candidates

The $38.4 million no-tax rate increase bond issue will not be the only major decision voted on on the upcoming April 2 ballot. As two existing Rockwood Board of Education members’ seats will expire in April 2013, the ballot will also include four candidates running to fill these two seats.

Current board members Stephen Banton and Janet Strate’s three-year terms will be expiring and they will be running again on the ballot. The two new candidates appearing on the ballot are Loralee Mondl and Jeffrey Morrell.

Banton has plenty of experience with Rockwood, being that he’s been a Board member for 15 years and was also the former Board President. He has also served on many committees within the Rockwood School District.

In a statement on the Rockwood website, Banton said, “It is my concern that we continue to build on our successes and improve our district so that all children can realize their potential.”

Similar to Banton, Strate has experience in Rockwood. She has served on the Board of Education for nine years and was involved with many committees as well.

Strate, who worked in the banking industry for 20 years, believe this experience will help the school district going forward.

“My background as a fiscal conservative has been very helpful in managing the complex challenges of budget shortfalls and increasing enrollment. Students are at the center of our work and our decisions,” Strate said according to the Rockwood website.

The two new candidates running for the seats on the Rockwood Board of Education also bring experience and dedication to the ballot.

Mondl has hands-on experience in the Rockwood School District since she was previously a teacher at Marquette High School. She has also served as PTO Treasurer and Co-President along with other district committee positions.

Because of Mondl’s experience as a teacher, volunteer and parent in the district, she feels she is “driven by an obligation to be the voice of the community as a representative on the Rockwood School District Board of Education,” according to the Rockwood website.

The final candidate, Morrell, has experience outside the district with Enterprise Holdings in Clayton, MO.  He has held positions such as Corporate Vice President in St. Louis and others.

Morrell believes that fiscal issues is the most important thing Rockwood should be focusing on.

In a statement to the Rockwood website, Morrell said, “I believe it is time for the School Board to begin the serious business of solving the unsustainable budget shortfalls so that the bright students of the next decade may benefit from the same quality education available to our children.”

All of the candidates have or have had students attend Rockwood schools, and look forward to sustaining and improving the excellence in the Rockwood School District.

State Audit Results

On Feb. 27, Missouri State Auditor Thomas Schweich presented the results of the Rockwood audit to community members in the Lafayette Theater.

Audit results are rated either excellent, good, fair or poor.  The Rockwood School District got a rating of fair.

Schweich said several findings require immediate attention, but there was no fraud or criminal activity found.

“That’s an important factor because there were a lot of allegations thrown around and I want to make sure that everyone knows while we do have serious issues, there was not any misconduct that rises to the level of a serious legal infraction,” he said.

There was one major issue according to Schweich: “Program Management, Services, Change Orders, and Conflict of Interest.”

One major issue in that category was Program Management, and the fact that Glenn Construction was overpaid.

“It has been widely publicized that the program management company used by Rockwood School District, Glenn construction company, had been paid about 11.1 million dollars relative to four bond issues,” Schweich said.

“Our finding in this area is very simple,” he continued. “First of all, we found that 1.2 million dollars in the fees that were paid to this company were for projects that were not itemized in the original scope of work, were not modified in the existing contract or enterd into a newcontract.  We believe these to be overpayments to this construction company.”

Schweich said the contracts are “ambiguous,” and he hopes this will be fixed going forward.

“The board was very responsive and indicated they would implement almost all of the reocmmendations. We’re going to come back and send an audit follow up team in 90 or 100 days or so to get a status report,” he said.

There were many more findings from the audit, and they can be read in full at http://www.rockwood.k12.mo.us/boardofeducation/audit2012/Downloads/2011-2012Audit.pdf#page=5.

Proposition S

Rockwood voters will be making a decision on April 2 about Proposition S.  This is a $38.4 million no-tax rate increase bond issue.  There are three major issues addressed in the bond issue: safety, technology and school improvements.

The safety part of Prop S will include security cameras, door-locking systems and check-ins at the Rockwood schools’ entrances.  These additions will cost $5,020,000.

For a price of $9,355,000, Rockwood will update networks and computers to aid in the technology of the schools. This will help students when they start jobs after high school because many of these jobs require experience with technology, according to the Rockwood website.

For the final part of Prop S, school improvements, Rockwood will renovate schools and repair parts of the schools that need it.  This will cost $21,532,000.

According to the Rockwood website, “architectural and engineering services and bond issue oversight” will cost the remaining $2,500,000, bringing the grand total of Prop S to $38.4 million.

For Prop S to pass, the Constitution of the State of Missouri requires a four-sevenths majority, or just over 57 percent.

Before election day, registered voters will receive a postcard from the Election Office explaining where to vote.  The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on April 2.