Tamara Jo Rhomberg and Phillip Milligan won the two open seats for the Rockwood School Board in Tuesday’s election, earning 35% and 36% of votes respectively.
Rhomberg has been an active board member since 2017. This will be Milligan’s first term on the board. He has been involved in the district since 1989 as the Lafayette High School band director and a principal at two schools in the district.
Their terms will begin tomorrow when they are sworn in at the school board meeting at Rockwood Summit High. That meeting starts at 7 p.m. Mary LaPak, the district’s chief communications officer, said a new president, vice president and who will be on what committees will be decided at tomorrow’s meeting.
Media provided by Ashley Hobbs
Both candidates were endorsed by the RNEA teacher association.
Jordan Shelton, language arts teacher, is a representative for RNEA. In years past, Shelton has helped with the process of endorsing board candidates. She said the association wants to select candidates that have the best interests of teachers and students in mind.
“They tell us what they stand for and what they want to do as a member of the school board and then we get a chance to ask them questions,” Shelton said. “We vote for who we feel is the best choice for our students in our school.”
Shelton said she is thankful to everyone who came out and voted and showed their support for all the candidates. She is also excited for the Rockwood School Board to continue to work with RNEA and teachers. The 24-25 school year is a negotiation year, between the district and RNEA addressing issues such as salary and benefits.
Grant Wrisberg, senior, who voted for the first time in the election after recently turning 18, said one of his driving factors in voting was his mom. He went to MHS as his polling place.
For a first-time voter, Wrisberg found the process fairly simple.
“I would say the people working there were really positive because like when they heard I was a first-timer, they all started cheering, so I like the environment in there for sure,” he said.
