Rockwood Earns Meritorious Budget Award for 24th Straight Year

The Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) recently recognized Rockwood School District with the 2023-2024 Meritorious Budget Award (MBA) for excellence in budget presentation. This is the 24th straight year that ASBO has awarded an MBA to the district.

“This is an outstanding achievement for our Finance Department on behalf of the Rockwood School District,” said Chief Financial Officer Cyndee Byous. "Under the steadfast leadership of Director of Finance Dan Steinbruegge, our team continues to earn consistent recognition at the state and national level for exemplary budgetary practices and fiscal management. This reflects our commitment to maintaining an environment of efficient and effective business operations, fiscal responsibility and transparency as outlined in our strategic plan.” 

ASBO International’s MBA promotes and recognizes best budget presentation practices in school districts. Participants submit their applications and budget documents to a panel of school financial professionals who review the materials for compliance with the MBA Criteria Checklist and other requirements and provide expert feedback that districts can use to improve their budget documents.

“The budget is an excellent document that includes a wealth of information in graphic and narrative form,” the ASBO review team wrote in its summary of Rockwood’s budget. “It is user-friendly for the average taxpayer with an abundance of data to meet varied readers’ needs.”

“ASBO International’s MBA program provides school districts with tools and resources to develop a high-quality, easy-to-understand budget to share the district’s goals and objectives internally and with the community,” ASBO International COO/Interim Executive Director Siobhán McMahon said in a release. “By participating in the programs, districts demonstrate their commitment to upholding nationally recognized budget presentation standards.”

The Rockwood Finance Department regularly earns top honors for its excellent financial management. This includes a AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s, a recognition earned by only four school districts in the state of Missouri, and 18 straight years of earning the ASBO and Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Certificate of Excellence (COE) in financial reporting. 

Rockwood is the only school district in the state to currently hold a AAA rating as well as ASBO's MBA and COE and GFOA's COE.