Westlake school board member steps down

After more than 10 years of service to the Westlake City School District, Andrea Rocco informed Superintendent Dr. Daniel J. Keenan Jr. that she will step down from her Board of Education seat.

Rocco has joined the Cuyahoga County administration as special counsel to County Executive Ed FitzGerald.

Rocco was appointed to the Board in 2001 to fill a vacant seat. She won election to a four-year term in November 2001 and was named VP of the Board in 2002 and 2005. She served as president in 2008 and 2009.

After notifying the district she intended to resign, Rocco was asked by superintendent, Dr. Daniel Keenan if there was any way she could extend her time on the Board.  Keenan asked she consider working through the current phase of construction to get the building pads completed and for budget planning for the 2012-13 school year, anticipating a mid-biennial budget proposal from the governor. 

Rocco replied with a statement, “As a result of County Executive FitzGerald’s policy that county cabinet employees not hold public office, I regrettably have to resign from my school board seat,” Rocco said. “My resignation will be effective March 6, my last regularly scheduled meeting will be Feb. 27.”

By law, the Board must appoint a replacement 10 days after the next scheduled Board meeting that follows the effective date of resignation. For Westlake, that appointment date is March 26.

Remaining Board members – President Thomas Mays, Vice President Carol Winter, Nate Cross and Tony Falcone – will develop a process for choosing a replacement. Interested parties will have to apply for the open seat. Those applications will be available on the district website at www.wlake.org. 

During her Board tenure, the district earned an Excellent rating on the Ohio Local Report Card 13 times, every year the rating has been in existence.

In 2011 the district earned its highest Performance Index score to date – 107.2, which places Westlake in the top 5 percent of Ohio school districts. The district’s Performance Index score has risen steadily since the 2000-01 school year from 97.8 to 107.2 for the 2010-11 school year.

Over the years Rocco has served on the Board, the district adopted a curriculum review cycle to ensure that every aspect of what students are taught in the classroom is examined and updated every five years. The district has adopted new courses of study in all areas and aligned all curriculums with state standards.