May 1, 2025

Personnel

At last night’s meeting, the Board approved the hiring of Britney Halpin as Rockwood’s new coordinator of human resources for support staff and Charles “Buddy” Sodemann as our new director of research, evaluation and assessment, both beginning July 1.

Britney is replacing Stacy Neely, who is retiring at the end of the school year, and Buddy is replacing Glenn Hancock, who has accepted a position outside of the school district. Read more about Ms. Halpin and Mr. Sodemann.

Superintendent Comments

In his Superintendent Comments at the May 1, 2025, Board of Education meeting, Dr. Curtis Cain shared the following updates:

Lafayette High band director Brad Balog is the Rockwood School District’s 2025-2026 Teacher of the Year. Brad, fellow grade-level Teachers of the Year Jordan Espinosa and Bryan Tenny and all Rockwood building-level Teachers of the Year were also honored at the ROSE ceremony on Sunday. As winner of the district Teacher of the Year, Brad is now eligible to participate at the regional and state level in the Missouri Teacher of the Year program, which is conducted annually by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Congratulations to Brad and to all of our Teachers of the Year for being such shining examples of the caliber of educators our students and families enjoy in Rockwood.
The Rockwood School District is getting ready to honor more than 1,600 seniors at our Class of 2025 graduation ceremonies, which will be held May 10 and May 12 at the Family Arena in St. Charles. All four ceremonies will be livestreamed on the Family Arena YouTube channel. Video replays will be available on our Rockwood YouTube channel in the days following the ceremonies. Select photos and video from the ceremonies will also be available on the Rockwood website and social media channels in the days following the ceremonies. Congratulations to our graduating Class of 2025. We can’t wait to see what the future has in store for you.
The 36th annual ROSE Award Ceremony was held Sunday, with more than 300 guests coming together to honor those who show their dedication and commitment to serving the children and families of the Rockwood School District. The ceremony featured Teachers of the Year, Cornerstone Award recipients, service awardees, retirees and ROSE Award recipients. Congratulations to all of our honorees. Let’s watch this video honoring this year’s 15 ROSE Award recipients.

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 about the district’s hiring practices.

Agenda Items

2025-2026 Testing Calendar and Assessment Plan - Board members approved the 2025-2026 testing calendar and assessment plan. The balanced plan includes state, district, professional learning opportunities and classroom assessments. View the presentation.

Board Discussion

Student Services Program Update - Board members and Cabinet members heard an update on the Student Services program. They learned about the McKinney-Vento and foster care programs. View the update.

Policy 3170 Purchasing - First Reading - The Board reviewed updates to Policy 3170 - Purchasing. Read the policy.

FY26 Proposed Budget Update - The Board discussed the FY26 preliminary operating budget as Chief Financial Officer Cyndee Byous and Director of Finance Dan Steinbruegge presented an update. It was noted that FY25 will end with positive growth in fund balance, and the Board will be presented with a balanced FY26 budget for approval in June 2025. View the update.

Review of May 15, 2025 Board of Education Meeting Date - Board members and Cabinet members reviewed the May 15, 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.**