Aug. 7, 2025

Superintendent Comments

In his Superintendent Comments at the Aug. 7, 2025, Board of Education meeting, Dr. Curtis Cain shared the following updates:

There are only 11 more sleeps until the start of the 2025-2026 school year in the Rockwood School District. It is a very exciting time for students, staff members and parents alike, and we cannot wait to welcome everyone back into our school buildings for the first day of school Monday, Aug. 18. To help prepare, more than 150 Rockwood administrators and Board of Education members gathered for the district’s annual Administrative Conference on July 22-24 at Rockwood Summit High. The theme for this year’s conference was "Rooted in the Promise, Forward Together," centered on the district's new five-year strategic plan -- "Forward Together" -- and one of its main tenets, "The Rockwood Promise." We had three great days of learning and fellowship as we came together to get the school year started off on a high note. I would also like to extend a special thank you to the Rockwood Summit cheer and dance teams, band and color guard for being on hand to extend a warm welcome to our administrators as they arrived in the morning. We also welcomed more than 110 teachers into the district during our New Teacher Orientation event this week. I want to thank our Curriculum and Professional Learning departments for helping get our new teachers started, as well as our new educators for bringing their enthusiasm, dedication and talent to our students and schools.
Staying on that back-to-school theme, please visit our district website - rsdmo.org - for important information for families and students as we all gear up for the start of the year. Our Rockwood Back-to-School guide, in particular, contains handy links to resources such as school supply lists, how to access calendars, how to customize receiving communications from our schools and district and what is new for the upcoming school year.
In July, recent Lafayette High graduate Audrey Keller was announced as one of the recipients of the second round of this year’s College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships. Audrey plans to study economics and international relations at the University of Southern California. More than 3,700 college-sponsored National Merit awards were announced over two rounds this summer, and seven Rockwood graduates were among the 73 honorees from the state of Missouri. In total, 14 Rockwood graduates were among the 134 National Merit Scholarship winners from the state of Missouri this year, with Marquette (eight) tying for the most of any school and Lafayette (six) with the third-most. Congratulations to Audrey and to all of our National Merit Scholarship recipients.
I wanted to offer a brief look at one of the many facilities projects we have going on around the district this summer: the renovation of the roof system at Ridge Meadows Elementary. Our roof renovation projects use a Fluid Applied Roofing System that helps reduce interior cooling costs, extends the roof’s warranty by 20 years and is about 50 percent less expensive than a full tear-off and traditional roof replacement. This project is funded through the district's General Fund, a holdover from the way these projects were funded before the passage of Prop 3. In the future, Rockwood will follow a cycle of HVAC renovations one summer, roof system renovations the next at each of our schools, using Prop 3 funds. Let’s watch.

To view Dr. Cain's entire Superintendent Comments from the meeting, click here.

Patron Comments

There were three speakers during the public comment period that spoke in support of putting the proposed tax levy increase on the November ballot.

Policy Updates

The following policy revisions were approved by the Board:

Agenda Items

Resolution Calling an Election for Purpose of Increasing the District’s Operating Tax Levy - The Board approved a resolution calling for an election in the Rockwood School District to increase the district’s operating levy for the purpose of raising teacher and staff salaries to be more competitive with other local school districts, expand health care benefit offerings to more employee groups and hire two additional safety officers to enhance safety across the district. Read the resolution. Learn more at this link.

Board Discussion

Review of August 28, 2025 Board of Education Meeting Date - Board members and Cabinet members reviewed the August 28, 2025 Board of Education meeting date. View the planning calendar.

**Board meeting agendas are available to view the Saturday before regularly scheduled Board meetings on BoardDocs.**