Rockwood School District Superintendent Curtis Cain has announced a plan to implement a different approach to ensuring universal equity, opportunity and access for all students.
Cain outlined the new training program, “Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity,” during the Feb. 9 Board of Education meeting at Rockwood Summit High School.
Board members voted 4-0 to approve consent agenda items that included paying Dignity Consulting $110,800 to help implement the program.
Board members Izzy Imig, Keith Kinder and Randy Miller were not at the meeting.
Cain said the district expects to pay for the program with money from coordinated early intervening services that are expected to be approved by the Special School District of St. Louis County within the next two months.
“We are frankly in a space where we need some assistance, and we need to retool so many different things,” Cain said during the board presentation. “We need to be humble and honest enough with ourselves to say we need some help when it comes to where we are sitting right now. We have students and we have staff who are in a place that is extremely painful.”
The announcement of implementing a new approach to diversity training came about a week after a racially insensitive incident at Eureka High School. The district reported signs that said “White toilet” and “Colored toilet” were found on the doors of separate bathroom stalls at the school.
Cain referenced the incident, without naming the school, and said the plans to bring “Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity” training to Rockwood have been in the works since November.
“The absolutely horrible incident that occurred at Eureka High School really didn’t impact in any way, shape or form the timing of (the training announcement),” Cain said during a telephone interview Monday. “This is just when the logistics came together in terms of what we were looking for and ultimately how (Dignity Consulting) could supply and meet our needs as a district. That is what drove the timeline. The horrible incident at Eureka High School was separate and distinct of the logistics of this coming together.”
Cain said Floyd Cobb and John Krownapple, founders of Dignity Consulting and authors of the book “Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity: The Key to Successful Equity Implementation,” will consult with the district during the training.
Cain said he has worked with Krownapple in the past, noting superintendents engaged in a book study with Krownapple and his work.
“He is only going to help us with the conversation,” Cain said. “It is up to us to do the work. It is up to us to lean in and have the conversation and dialogue.”
Cain said the training will be phased into the district at seven levels:
■ The superintendent’s cabinet.
■ The school board.
■ Building and school administrators.
■ School Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) champions.
■ Community leaders.
■ School Employee teams.
■ School training leaders to help coach their buildings’ staff.
“I want us to own the language we’re using as a district and embrace it, so there’s no ambiguity of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it as a school community,” Cain said at the board meeting. “I want our folks to be in a position to lead with confidence and understanding of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. All the rumor and innuendo that can build up – let’s put that aside. Here is factually what it looks like and what it means in the Rockwood School District.
“This is the time for us as a district to recast what we’re doing so that we’re fulfilling not only our strategic plan but the mission of the Rockwood School District. This is for the good of all students in our district.”
Cain said he would like to start the training in late spring of this year. He also said how the training is funded would be re-evaluated if the Special School District of St. Louis County does not approve paying for it.
“We will have a different conversation if that is what happens,” he said of the funding.
Students speak up
During the Feb. 9 meeting, four students from Eureka High addressed the board about racial issues they have experienced.
Two of the students said the removal of a program to help female students of color has been harmful, and two students said the district needs a Department of Educational Equity and Diversity coordinator. Rockwood is seeking to fill that position, which has been renamed director of Educational Equity and Access, district officials said.
In October, board members voted against renewing three student services. Board members Jessica Clark, Imig, Miller and Tamara Jo Rhomberg voted against renewing the contracts while Kinder, Lynne Midyett and Jaime Bayes voted to renew them.
The three contracts that were not renewed 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 the services, according to board documents.
“Taking (Women Empowering Women, a program provided by Sisters Helping Each Other Reach a Higher Height) away did more damage than you think it would,” sophomore MaKenzie Watson told the board. “All the work that we put into unifying our community and all of our plans were set back. We became more divided.”
Aisha Grace, who had been the coordinator since July 2021, resigned Jan. 19. Terry Harris, the district’s executive director of student services since the 2015-2016 school year, also resigned last month after working for Rockwood since 2006.
“Racism and inequality are issues that continue to grow,” junior Jadyn Wren told the board. “Without a (Department of Educational Equity and Diversity) coordinator, these issues have skyrocketed. As a student of color, not having a district coordinator makes my time at school more difficult because there is not anyone specifically in charge of making students of color feel safe.”
Cain said it is powerful to have students talk about their experiences during board meetings.
“It is different to have students, individually or collectively, come before a board of education and share their story,” he said.