The Rockwood School District is losing another top administrator.
Paul Northington, Rockwood’s chief financial officer, announced he is leaving at the end of this school year. Northington exits the district after six years and will take a CFO job at a smaller district.
Board of Education members voted 6-0 Jan. 19 to accept Northington’s resignation. Board member Keith Kinder was not present for the vote.
Northington is the fourth district administrator to either leave or announce an impending departure this school year, and they are among the six high-profile district leaders to leave in the past two years.
Aisha Grace, the district’s director of education and equity and diversity, resigned and left her position on Jan. 13. She had worked in the director role since July 2021 and was being paid $131,799.84 a year. The school board voted unanimously in a Jan. 19 closed meeting to accept her resignation.
Lisa Counts, who had served as Rockwood’s assistant superintendent of supervision of schools for the past eight years, announced in November she would retire at the end of this school year.
In December, Terry Harris announced his resignation as Rockwood’s executive director of student services. Harris’ final day was Jan. 13, and in his resignation letter he described the last three years as “challenging.”
Former Superintendent Mark Miles and Brittany Hogan, who had served in Grace’s role for one year, resigned in 2021. Miles was with Rockwood for two years, and both he and Hogan said community pressure that included taunts and threats through email and social media was part of their reasons for leaving Rockwood.
Superintendent Curtis Cain said he understands there may be concerns about six administrators leaving a district in a two-year period, but he also said the situation is not unique to Rockwood.
“I know it does feel like there’s a tremendous amount of change, but I would argue that people are seeing that across the nation,” he said. “As educators are either looking for something different or reaching those touch points that say, ‘Look, I’m eligible to retire.’ I don’t ever begrudge when folks ultimately decide to move on or to retire. We each have our own path, and I think it’s important that we’re respectful of that.”
Parents in the district have challenged Rockwood for the past two years, starting with how the district handled the COVID-19 pandemic before turning their attention to curriculum, materials available in school libraries and funds spent on programs aimed to increase equity and diversity.
Harris, who graduated from the district’s Lafayette High School in Wildwood and worked at Rockwood since 2006, said she was shocked when the board voted 4-3 in October against renewing three contracts for student services related to equity and diversity.
Board members Jessica Clark, Izzy Imig, Randy Miller and Tamara Jo Rhomberg voted against renewing the contracts while Keith Kinder, Lynne Midyett and Jaime Bayes voted to renew them.
The three contracts were with Sisters Helping Each Other Reach a Higher Height, SistaKeeper Empowerment Center and Tony Thompson Inc. The district was to pay a maximum of $86,100 for all three services, according to board documents.
Cain said Rockwood will continue to provide the services students need despite the recent departures of Harris and Grace from the student services department.
“There are going to be departures, but we want to make sure that students aren’t feeling the impact of said departure and that we’re still providing the services and support needed so that students can continue to thrive here in the Rockwood School District,” he said. “I have great confidence that there’s a bright future on the horizon for the Rockwood School District.”
Northington
Northington’s resignation letter said he is leaving for personal reasons, effective June 30.
He also announced he has accepted a job as executive director of finance and school operations for the Hancock Place School District, where he previously worked. He will begin that new job on July 1.
Northington will earn a $160,000 annual salary at Hancock. He is making $205,223.39 at Rockwood this school year.
“I worked at Hancock Place for 10 years, and I really enjoyed my time there,” he said. “It’s been six years at Rockwood, and it’s truly been a very good six years.
“The CFO job opened up at Hancock Place. I’m 62 and nearing the end of my professional career, so I thought it was good for me to finish there. I love that community.”
Northington, 62, of House Springs has been Rockwood’s CFO since July 1, 2017.
Before joining Rockwood, he worked as the director of business and finance for Hancock from 2007-2017 and before that he was the director of business and finance for New Madrid County School District from 1996-2007.
Northington said the unrest at the Rockwood School district and the resignations among the district’s administrative staff over the past couple of years had no impact on his decision to leave.
“There’s a lot of great things going on in the district,” Northington said. “From a financial standpoint, we’re in very good shape. From the educational side, the students at Rockwood are thriving and will continue to thrive. You always have some noise with this kind of work, but that wasn’t a factor (in resigning).”
Cain said the district will soon begin the process of finding a new CFO.
He also praised Northington for his hard work over the past six years.
“Paul has done an amazing job,” Cain said. “He brings very solid financial leadership, professionalism and a focus that will be missed in the district. It’s been a pleasure to work with him and I wish him nothing but the best in the future.”
Northington said he has had nothing but great experiences at the Rockwood School District and values how much he has learned since he started in 2017.
“Rockwood is a large school district and it’s been nice learning how to work with a big, great team of people. The staff, the administration, they have all been very good to work with,” Northington said. “They’ve been very supportive.”
He also said his family has given him lots of support, including his wife, Shelley, four children, two stepchildren and nine grandchildren.