Rockwood Superintendent's New Hires Draw Questions

News of a pair of consultants who were hired to fill key administrative positions in the Rockwood School District by Superintendent Bruce Borchers has shined a spotlight on the operations of the district, as recently as today's column by Bill McClellan in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Patch readers e-mailed over the weekend and again this morning, wondering what has truly been happening in the district.

Questions and observations from Patch readers include:

• Why is money being spent on consultants, if a new superintendent was hired to direct the district?
• Why is a large sum of money being spent on this effort when the district faces massive budget cuts?
• Who authorized such funding for consultants, and how has it been managed over the school year?
• What has been the role of the district's board of education directors? Did they know what Borchers was doing?
• Is Borchers qualified for his job, if consultants had to be hired?
• Isn't $1,800 per day an awful lot of money to pay someone?
• Did the right people get hired for the new positions, if the positions were, in effect, created by the same consultants who suggested the addition of the positions?

Earlier this year, Patch was aware that some consulting was being rendered by educational professionals who previously had worked with Borchers. Patch also was aware that not all Rockwood employees approved of the practice and the rumored new direction of the district, but sources did not want to go 'on record' about their concerns for fear of losing their jobs.

In general, Rockwood board of directors indicated that hiring people from other districts is a fairly common practice for most school districts. In fact, they said Rockwood has engaged several consultants, under the tenure of the district's previous superintendent Craig Larson in the past few years, who then came to work in the district in various capacities.

Likewise, Rockwood employees are not prevented from consulting with other districts, and they reportedly have done so.

Directors confirmed that an effort to reorganize Rockwood has been under way this past school year, and that Borchers did not recommend hiring these key administrative positions right away because he did not know which positions or skills would be needed when he first joined the district.

Now, just as Borchers spoke eagerly at Thursday evening's board meeting about the board's upcoming retreat at which the new team will be assembled, he faces a communications dilemma about perceptions of that team.

Patch will issue more information about the response and stance of Rockwood's school board once it is available.