Rockwood National Education Association President Thomas Cook said teachers believe they have reached a tentative agreement with Rockwood School District officials to increase salaries for the next two years.
However, Rockwood chief communications officer Mary Lapak said on Tuesday that no formal tentative agreement had been reached.
Cook said the tentative two-year agreement would raise teachers’ salaries by 10 percent with salaries rising by 5.25 percent in the first year and 4.75 percent in the second. The RNEA initially proposed a 10 percent raise over two years on Feb. 27, but the district rejected the proposal in five hours, Cook said.
A meeting on Monday afternoon, with union representatives, district officials and Superintendent Curtis Cain, had a different outcome, he said.
RNEA members will vote early next week whether to ratify the agreement, Cook said. The Rockwood Board of Education also would have to vote to approve the agreement.
Rockwood teachers have gathered before and after school for the last few weeks to raise awareness of what they say are unfair wages.
Some teachers gathered in Eureka near the intersection of Hwy. 109 and North Street on Monday to advocate for higher educator pay. Some Geggie Elementary School staff gathered on Feb. 21 with signs reading “More than praise, we need a raise” and “Invest in teachers, invest in our future.”
Cook said providing Rockwood educators with a higher salary would ensure the district remains competitive with the 22 other St. Louis County public school districts.
He said Rockwood currently ranks 20th for first-year teachers with a bachelor’s degree with an annual salary of $44,240 according to data from EducationPlus, a St. Louis-based organization with 63 member school districts. The Parkway C-2 School District, which neighbors Rockwood, pays first-year educators $47,500. The Lindbergh School District pays $45,058.
Rockwood also ranks 20th for first-year teachers with a master’s degree with an annual salary of $47,428. Parkway pays $52,000, and Lindbergh pays $48,202.
Rockwood currently employs 1,534 certified staff members, including teachers, Lapak said. The average teacher salary in Rockwood is $69,109, she said.
Cook said RNEA’s tentative agreement with the district most likely won’t immediately bring teachers’ salaries to the target county midpoint range, but it’s a step in the right direction.
“I’m happy we’re able to reach this tentative agreement, but the work isn’t done,” he said. “After these discussions, I hope people see the value of educators. They are hardworking, passionate individuals doing their very best to, as Rockwood’s mission states, ensure all students realize their potential.”
Cook said the RNEA has been negotiating with district officials since September. He said the two parties have not been able to agree on salary increases and a family medical leave policy.
The district proposed a 12 percent pay increase for teachers over three years, with a 5.25 percent increase in the first year, a 3.25 percent increase in the second and a 3.5 percent increase in the third, according to Cook.
District educators are currently finishing a three-year salary agreement, which had a 4.75 percent salary increase in 2022, a 3.75 percent increase in 2023 and a 3.5 percent increase in 2024.
Lapak said the proposed first-year raise was the highest one-year raise offered in at least the last decade.
“We offered our very best possible salary from day one because it demonstrates good faith and shows sincerity and respect for the other party’s needs and expectations,” she said.
Cook said after the RNEA did not accept the three-year agreement, the district declared an impasse in October.
“We thought it was too early to declare impasse since it was only October and most school districts don’t negotiate until second semester,” he said. “We would have preferred continuing the conversation to find workable solutions that were amenable to both parties. We felt that continued conversation would help us find solutions and that if it had happened, it could have prevented what is currently happening in the school district.”
Cook said RNEA members voted overwhelmingly to reject the district’s proposal, by 80 percent, in December.
Since the impasse, the district agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding for family medical leave. Cook said the district has agreed to allow the RNEA to investigate a family medical leave policy for a potential change to district regulation next school year.
In a recent survey of RNEA members, Cook said 80 percent of the educators indicated they were considering leaving Rockwood for a better paying district or leaving education altogether.
“There has been a precipitous drop in our rankings,” Cook said. “We are not staying competitive with the other St. Louis County school districts. Many of our members are living paycheck to paycheck. Rockwood is a highly regarded district, and we’re worried about Rockwood’s reputation. If we can’t attract and keep the very best educators, then we have fears the educational product that Rockwood can deliver will suffer.”
District’s Feb. 25 response
In a Feb. 25 update published on the district’s website, Cain said the RNEA’s offers were not fiscally sustainable and would exhaust the district’s reserve funds. Additionally, the district must consider the ramifications of Senate Bill 190, Cain said, which was approved by the state legislature in 2023. The bill outlines a senior property tax freeze, which could affect future revenue for public school districts.
He said the RNEA initially proposed a 30 percent raise for educators over three years, which was not feasible for the district.
“To be clear, the (Board of Education) 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,” Cain said in the statement. “But we cannot do that in a way that puts the financial future of the Rockwood School District at risk.”
The district indicated it will investigate the feasibility of asking voters for a tax increase on a future ballot to raise staff pay at the Feb. 20 board meeting. The last increase to the district’s tax levy was in 1994. Rockwood’s current levy is $3.8826 per $100 of assessed valuation.
According to a 2024 Department of Elementary and Secondary Education tax report, Rockwood has one of the lowest tax rates among school districts in St. Louis County, only higher than Lindbergh ($3.8680), Parkway ($3.8673) and Ladue ($3.7133).
Board members voted 6-0 on Feb. 20 to approve a motion to explore the possibility of a future ballot measure. Kary Bachert was absent from the meeting.
Lapak said the district is in the initial steps of hiring a company to produce a survey to gauge community support for a possible tax levy increase to be used for staff salaries.
During the board meeting, Cain said it’s important Rockwood has quantitative data before putting an issue on a future ballot.
“Theoretically, there’s no need to ask for $2 if the most a community is going to support happens to be $1,” Cain said. “We really need data, not what I think, or, respectfully, what the board thinks. What does our community as a whole think? That will help guide our next steps.”
Lapak said that while the district will explore potential measures, no decision has been made as to what could be put on a ballot or when.
Cook said an increase to the tax levy has been “a can kicked down the road for multiple years.”
“It’s something that probably should have been done before now,” he said. “It would have been beneficial for the district to start that process before negotiations, because right now, nothing is certain. It is a vague, hypothetical possibility.”