The superintendent of the Wentzville School District, a finalist for national superintendent of the year, will move to the Rockwood School District for the 2022-23 school year. Both districts have seen heated protests during the pandemic over public health and racism in schools.
Curtis Cain has led Wentzville for nearly a decade, overseeing a massive expansion amid steady population growth.
During the pandemic, the Wentzville School Board has repeatedly rejected Cain’s recommendations on mitigation measures including masks. Last week, the board voted to ban “The Bluest Eye†by Toni Morrison from high school libraries, drawing national criticism.
Cain “has fought on behalf of the students, educators and staff of the district in spite of lack of collaboration from the board of education,†said Dr. Julie Scott, a candidate for the Wentzville School Board. “It’s unfortunate that his gift of leadership fell on deaf ears.â€
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Several teachers spoke at the last board meeting and said they were considering leaving the district because of the board’s decisions. After Cain’s announcement, the reaction from Wentzville parents and teachers on social media was largely dismay at losing their superintendent to Rockwood.
Julia Luetkenhaus, president of the Wentzville teachers’ union, told the board at its Jan. 20 meeting that she was ashamed to work in the district for the first time in 22 years. The board had declined to vote on Cain’s recommendation to require masks in any schools that reached a 3% positivity rate for the coronavirus among students and staff.
“We have to ask ourselves: Have we done all that we can to move this district forward?†Luetkenhaus asked.
The Wentzville School District has not released any plans for a new superintendent search.
Cain will replace Rockwood interim Superintendent Tim Ricker, who took on the role in July. The previous superintendent, Mark Miles, retired last spring after two years and acknowledged feeling pressure from heated protests and threatening emails that led to added security for administrators. Brittany Hogan, the district’s director of educational equity and diversity, also stepped down after one year in the position and said she was subjected to racist taunts and threats.
The climate in Rockwood has been tense with regular protests at board meetings since the decision to start school virtually in fall 2020. The uproar continued over the district’s diversity and equity initiatives and curriculum, earning national media attention as a flashpoint in the debate over so-called critical race theory in schools.
Last May, the Rockwood teachers’ union called on the school board and administrators to protect teachers from “personal attacks and outright threats of violence†over reading lists and curriculum aimed at inclusion and narrowing racial disparities in test scores.
Cain said he plans to move his family, including wife, Tori, and two children, into the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County district. Tori Cain is director of student services in the Pattonville School District.
“We are extremely fortunate to have someone with his credentials, experience and integrity to lead our district going forward,†Rockwood School Board President Jaime Bayes said in a statement.
A Milwaukee native, Cain earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas and master’s and doctorate degrees from Iowa State. Before coming to Wentzville in 2013, he was an associate superintendent in Overland Park, Kansas.
Cain’s salary will be $255,000 in the first year in Rockwood with raises bringing his pay up to $275,000 by the third year of the contract. His current salary in Wentzville is $217,350.
Cain is the 2022 Missouri superintendent of the year and one of four finalists for national superintendent of the year. The winner will be announced Feb. 17 in Nashville at the School Superintendents Association’s annual conference.
Missouri's attorney general filed suit against 36 school districts across the state over masking.
"It appears to be a serious First Amendment violation," said Tony Rothert, director of integrated advocacy at ACLU of Missouri.Â
Several ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area school districts have encountered recent challenges to library books; Wentzville banned one. Â
Wentzville School District enrollment increased from 6,000 in 2000 to more than 16,400 today.