Rockwood Superintendent, Board Say Normal Steps Taken with New Hires

Superintendent Bruce Borchers defended hiring administrators connected to his previous school district in Minnesota, saying the two additions to the Rockwood School District were necessary to help "get aligned" and improve local schools.

The two administrative positions have been vacant since the 2009-2010 school year, with this summer's appointments prompting

Critics, including St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan, said the same two hires originally consulted for Rockwood this year and helped Borchers plan the district's reorganization. In fact, that reorganization included plans to hire two administrators, who ultimately were the same consultants Borchers recruited from his former district.

McClellan reported that salaries for the two hires will go from $97,200 earned in Minnesota to $138,000 earned with Rockwood, and $79,958 earned in Minnesota to $125,000 earned locally.

Borchers maintained that the two professionals were the best suited for the tasks. Rockwood Board of Education President Steve Smith confirmed that school board members were aware of Borchers' plans and actions throughout the process. Additionally, Rockwood communications and human resource executives verified the typical Rockwood hiring process definitely was followed in this matter.

Conflict of interest?

The context starts with former Rockwood Superintendent Craig Larson. When Larson retired, he suggested that the two positions not be filled so his replacement could assess what and who would best meet the district's needs. Actually, he and the board of education agreed not to replace three positions: associate superintendent, executive director of elementary education and the executive director of secondary education.

Larson used consultants frequently, said Rockwood's chief communications officer Kim Cranston. "In fact, when Dr. Larson joined Rockwood, we were going through redistricting discussions, as well as the five-year strategic planning process, and consultants were hired to assist with both efforts."

She said he and former superintendents hired colleagues with whom they had worked prior to Rockwood, so this recent incidence was not the first time "familiar colleagues" had been added to the district's teams.

Nancy DuBois and Randy Smasal, previous co-workers with Borchers, accepted consulting contracts with Rockwood this school year while still employed full time in Minnesota, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report. The two individuals then were given full-time positions with Rockwood as an "executive director of learning and support services" and as an "associate superintendent of learning," respectively.

Smith said the school board held a work session before Borchers was hired to build norms as an overall group, including outlining a "learning plan" for Borchers about who and what Rockwood is.

Borchers said board members told him his mission was to look for opportunities for Rockwood to get even better. He said his original goal and "entry plan" was all about listening to the people within the district and exploring all the great things occurring in it.

"I learned then, and continue to learn about the district every single day. What hasn’t come out while people are talking about Rockwood this week is that we have an excellent staff and board who have dealt in a very forthright way about these positions," Borchers said. "They just wanted me to have every opportunity to get aligned and focused on continuous improvement."

Cranston said it is critical to remember the positions being scrutinized already existed. "It's different than what is being portrayed, because we deliberately didn't fill them until now," she said. 

She and Borchers said the leadership and supervisory duties associated with the unfilled positions were divvied up while he learned about Rockwood. "Our immediate staff was inundated with handling additional responsibilities on top of their full-time jobs. They really didn't have the time to be able to help me with the reorganization," he said.

At the same time, the executive—or superintendent cabinet—team also handled the Guiding Change process, which caused additional pressures and time commitments regarding budget cuts. Cranston said budget challenges started right away in September, further adding stress to an already stretched staff.

Karen Siebert and Jim Ramsey were established as interim executive directors, but Borchers said they had limited hours and certain projects to direct.

"Everyone was stretched to the max, including myself," Borchers said. So he said he engaged his former colleagues, who he believed had the skill sets and experience that would help him complete a presentation the school board expected in January.

Borchers' retrospection

"I would have much rather focused on relationships, rather than immediately on things and processes," Borchers said. Starting with snow days, he said a series of tough decisions hasn’t allowed that, however.

"Relationships should be the primary focus, but given our time constraints, we needed some other people who could help to compare strategic ideas while we took care of the day-to-day," he said.

Cranston said community meetings and a series tour that included all Rockwood buildings during Borcher's first two months took the bulk of his time. "He missed many of his own childrens' events, while focusing on the district," she said. "He’s a band dad, for example, but constantly juggles time for the community and people, and it takes more than five or six months to cultivate deep relationships."

Consent agenda items

It was clear to board members Borchers couldn't do everything expected without some assistance, said Cranston. In September, the school board approved a transfer of $250,000 from the district's operating fund "for superintendent contingency items." Cranston said they initiated the assistance and handled the amount of funding in an appropriate and allowed manner, as a consent agenda item. Consent agenda items are often approved without discussion by the board.

Smith said perhaps a board member should have asked that this item be removed from the consent agenda. "No one did, and I have no access to their thinking on that. I did not, because the item made sense to me," he said.

"In response to the opportunity, I did tell them it would be nice to have an account with a limited amount of money that I could go to, if needed," Borchers said.

Open disclosure

Cranston said not only was it at the board’s suggestion that Borchers secure consultants, they "approved the contracts, and approved everything."

She said Rockwood's typical interview protocols were followed, including the involvement of parents and staff. Rockwood had 40 applicants for the associate superintendent job, and 53 applicants for the learning and support services role.

Smith said it does not seem strange to him that Borchers would pick people whose work he knew and who he trusted as consultants, who later became candidates.

Money reportedly saved

Borchers said only 24 percent, or $60,000, of the allocated $250,000 had been used  through May for consulting services. He then aligned with the consulting services of another acquaintance from Solution Tree, and devised a staff development plan based on what he believed the district needed.

"It's important to remember in the current restructure, that $70,000 was saved from passing over filling the jobs since the 2009-2010 structure," Borchers said.

He said another $180,000 will be saved over a year's time due to the new way he organized the team.

"We flipped the administrator/teacher ratio from this past school year of 17 administrators and eight teacher leaders to nine administrators and 17 teacher leaders now," he said.

Cranston said a defined, strategic pay plan also was followed, and that the two newly hired professionals are making less than those who previously held the comparable roles two years ago.

One difference between the previous and current comparison cited by some Rockwood parents is that the district was not as strapped for cash two years ago. Some Patch readers indicate they want every available penny for the district to go toward supporting students in direct, rather than indirect, ways.

Cranston said approximately $90,000 of the entire $250,000 allocated for consultant services has not been spent or earmarked and will go back into the district's general operating funds.

Smith said the board did not have a specified way of determining the amount of money to set aside for consultants. "I think the amount came from wanting to have something limited but enough to do something with," he said.

At the end of the day, Borchers said all the effort is about how decisions impact the 22,000 Rockwood students. "It's difficult when you give your life for that, and it’s portrayed differently."