RNEA Negotiations Update

March 4, 2025

The following letter was shared with RNEA President Tom Cook and MNEA UniServ Director Lisa Ali on March 3. We are pleased to be moving forward toward a resolution that moves educator salaries in a positive direction while maintaining the financial stability of the district in a way that benefits all Rockwood patrons.

March 3, 2025

Dear Mr. Cook,

The Board of Education met this morning and reviewed your proposal. With great consideration, they have approved moving forward with your proposed 10% salary increase over two years—5.25% in year one and 4.75% in year two—with the following understandings:

• The Board of Education wants to be clear that in order to make this work, we have to borrow money from year three in our initial offer.
• Since this structure frontloads salary increases more than originally proposed, it is important to note that without a tax levy increase, there is a high risk of a salary freeze in year three, as we are reallocating funds from that year to accommodate larger raises in year two and there are many uncertainties in state funding as previously discussed.
• We are committed to assisting with your ratification meetings to ensure accurate financial information is shared and any questions are addressed in real time.
• Employees on L-Steps will remain at a 2% increase, as negotiated in 2016. This is not a new decision but one that was agreed upon previously.
• This offer is a three-year agreement – Guaranteed salary for two years, with salary negotiations in the third year: 10% increase over two years (5.25% in year one, 4.75% in year two).

As a reminder, we have until March 11, 2025, to begin running contracts, so time is of the essence. Please confirm whether you plan to take this offer forward for ratification, and let us know if you have any questions. 

Dr. Cain & Dr. Cohen

February 25, 2025

The Rockwood School District Board of Education and district leaders appreciate and value the outstanding work our educators do every day for students. I have said many times that the classroom is the reason we have a school district, which is why our focus continues to be on learning for all students. 

We have been negotiating in good faith with RNEA leadership since September to land on an agreement that moves teacher salaries in a positive direction as compared to other St. Louis County districts. Our plan has always been to offer a fair raise that the district can sustain moving forward. We also recognize that to make substantial movement in our rankings for pay, it will require a request from our patrons for a levy increase. This has also been a part of our plan that we communicated with the negotiating team from the beginning.

The Board and I have received a number of emails that are accusatory in nature, alleging that we don’t care enough about our teachers and that we need to offer more in terms of salary. To be clear, the Board and I would like nothing more than to give higher raises to teachers and move us to the top of the pay scale for educators in our region. But we can not do that in a way that puts the financial future of the Rockwood School District at risk. As outlined in the parameters for interest-based bargaining, we came to the table with our very best offer of 12% over three years, with a first-year raise of 5.25%, the highest one-year raise offered in at least a decade. We also came to agreement on a number of language items in the contract that will benefit our educators.

The offers that the RNEA brought to the table were simply not fiscally sustainable. The first proposal was 30% over three years, with additional three-year proposals at 18% and 16%. These percentages would quickly exhaust the district reserves.

Our very best offer of 12% over three years was developed with what we knew in October and our financial projections based on that information. Since then, our financial projections for revenue have significantly decreased based on the following:

• Governor Kehoe gave his State of the State address, indicating a decrease in the state formula that we estimate will result in $21.6 million less for Rockwood over the next three years. That equates to a $7 million reduction this upcoming school year.
• An increase to our property and liability insurance premiums of 29% in November, resulting in $1.3 million additional costs in the current year and commensurate increases in projected costs for future years.

We also have to keep in mind that we don’t yet know what the financial impact will be of Senate Bill 190 (senior tax freeze), so that hasn’t even been factored into our projections yet. Additional details about the district’s financial projections can be found below in a revised fund balance overview, in the presentation to the Board of Education on Dec. 17, 2024 and in the Community Engagement meetings about Fiscal Responsibility held on Nov. 12, 2024 and Highly Qualified Staff held on Jan. 14, 2025.

Here is a graph that illustrates how the change in projections has impacted our initial offer to the RNEA, as well as where their latest counter offer would put the district reserves:

The Board and district leaders are committed to standing behind our offer - even given the financial uncertainties - but we can not put the financial future of the district in jeopardy by entertaining anything higher than our current offer. As shown by the orange line in the chart above, a 16% raise would spend down the reserves at a much faster rate, bringing reserves below the required level of 22% within the next three years and requiring a Tax Anticipation Note (borrowing to make payroll) as early as 2027. Stopping this trajectory would certainly require decreased staffing levels, and possibly a reduction in force (RIF) if the required decrease outpaced attrition.

In an effort to reach a compromise, we have proposed with the RNEA moving forward with the ratification of one of the following:

• Three-year agreement – guaranteed salary for all three years: 12% over three years (5.25% in year one, 3.25% in year two, and 3.5% in year three).
• Three-year agreement – guaranteed salary for two years with the third year subject to negotiation: 8.5% over two years (5.25% in year one and 3.25% in year two).

With the continued fiscal uncertainty, this is the best and most appropriate balance of paying teachers in the short term to the best of our ability while maintaining the fiscal responsibility that is needed and expected from Rockwood patrons.

With what we know today, this is a controlled deficit spend (spending down the reserves)  over the course of the next two or three years. Regardless of the option, we have to be able to pivot depending on where fiscal conditions stand in 2027 or 2028. The 16% proposal from RNEA drops us below our own board policy of fiscal management.

The Rockwood tax rate is one of the lowest in St. Louis County (see figure 1 below). The last time there has been a tax increase for staff in the Rockwood School District was 1994 (see figure 2 below). Previous administrations have successfully negotiated agreements that were ratified by the RNEA to make progress for teachers within the constraints of our fiscal reality. In fact, the agreement ratified three years ago represented a 12% increase over three years. The agreement ratified six years ago represented a 9.7% increase over three years, and the agreement ratified nine years ago represented a 9.2% increase over three years. Our teacher pay related to other districts in the county has been a longstanding challenge for Rockwood, and it is not something we can resolve overnight. It requires a measured approach with the revenue we have, and it will include a request of our community for a levy increase in order to make significant movement. The Board has already voted to proceed with a community survey to gauge the level of support in Rockwood for a levy increase for staff salaries.

Given the emails and social media posts circulating on this issue, we have developed a Frequently Asked Questions document to clarify questions and comments we are hearing and seeing. This will be a fluid document that is updated as we receive additional questions. 

Please know that as a district, we value and appreciate the work our teachers do every day for all students. We fully recognize that they are the backbone of our highly regarded district, where students excel and become outstanding citizens in our communities. It is our intention to move forward with one of the two options outlined above as determined by our teachers so that we can collectively plan for a levy increase that our community will support. 

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we work to support our educators while maintaining the financial stability of the district in a way that benefits all Rockwood patrons.

Curtis Cain, Ph.D.
Superintendent