By Tim Huether Three teachers and two principals were on the Bennett County School Board agenda as resignations to approve at the February 12, meeting Monday night.
Under public comment, community member Anthony Kathol expressed concern over those resignations and more to possibly come.
“I suspect that this is the tip of the iceberg,” said Kathol. “I have heard throughout the general public that there could be even more teachers possibly resigning by the end of the year. As a member of the public, I’d be a little bit concerned about our children with regards to the continuity of educators that are going to be in our school district this coming year.”
Kathol said he would like to know how these resignations are going to impact our students for the 2024-25 school year.
Board chairman Mike Olson responded that a couple of the resignations are due to retirements and the school has no control over that. Olson added that as far as impact goes, he can’t answer that. He added that many other schools are going through the same thing.
Kathol said, “It’s just a thought, it’s a comment.”
Kathol pointed out the state is already short 500 teachers and added we are already importing teachers.
Kathol said from the feedback he is getting, it appears more internal and said he challenges the school board to potentially do an anonymous survey with their staff.
Olson responded to Kathol that he brings some interesting thoughts, some things the board can discuss.
Also under public comment, Bennett County Sheriff Jason Erwin addressed the board about putting a school resource officer in the school.
“I think we need one,” said Erwin. “With all the fighting, the drugs going on. I’m a big believer in that. I’m willing to help you guys if you’re willing to help me get one lined up. I’ll be in charge of sending them to training at the academy, they’ll do a DARE program for two weeks. All I need from you is to help pay for the resource officer.”
Erwin said it would likely not start until next fall if approved and added the person would be through the school but under his direct supervision.
Board member Josh Fanning asked Erwin his thought process in how it was going to work out.
Erwin said, “during school hours, he’ll be under you guys, but he’ll be under my supervision. He or she will be a deputy. You guys will be under control of that individual, just under my office.”
Erwin added the person will attend sporting events and other activities. In the summer time, the officer would help the sheriff’s office cover the county. They would have an office at the school and cover all schools. They will be armed and in uniform throughout the day.
The board said they would put that on the March agenda and asked Erwin to come to that meeting.
Rick May spoke under communication from the public and asked if the weighted GPA was removed from the school and if so, why.
He asked if that could be added back in saying it helps the students at the higher end arguing it helps them get into college, get better dorms, and more.
He asked why it was removed and was told by high school principal Craig Courbron last fall they went through the process of adding the weighted GPA but it was removed because they thought it should start with the freshmen class.
In admin reports, Superintendent Frederick said South Dakota School Board Recognition Week is February 19-23 and said on behalf of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota and the Bennett County School District, he would like to recognize and thank each of our school board members for dedicating their time and energy to serving on our locally elected school board.
He presented each member with a certificate of appreciation as well as a certificate from the ASBSD recognizing the entire board for their positive efforts.
Frederick provided the boardthefirstdraftofthe20242025 school master calendar, saying he shared it with the staff and asked for them to share any recommendations for changes. He suggested there are not many options for changes in this calendar with Christmas and New Years both falling on a Wednesday. Next month the calendar will be an agenda item for the board’s approval.
Frederick said things continue to move along quickly with the new middle school building project.
The masonry crew finished up, including the addition of the “BC” on the front of the high school building. Crews continue sheet rocking, frame work, doorways, electrical, and mechanical work. State inspections on the electrical and mechanical are scheduled for next week and then the remaining sheet rock will be installed. The sheet metal is completed on the outside of the building with only the soffits and trim work remaining. The tie-in process between the new building and existing building is under way. The remaining site utility and storm drainage work will begin in the near future.
The biggest news this week at the legislature regarding educational bills was HB 1250 (School Voucher Bill) being smoked out and delivered to the House Floor where the bill did not have enough support, therefore it died and should be done for the session. The next big educational bill is HB 1048, the accountability bill. HB 1048E will be heard Monday in House Education. The two major pieces of HB 1048E include that there will be a statewide minimum teacher salary set at $45,000 and the second piece is that it will increase each year by the increase in the Target Teacher Salary, which would begin July 1, 2026, meaning each school district must pay each full-time teacher a minimum of $45,000.
On this upcoming Thursday through Saturday, he will be attending the National Superintendent’s Conference in San Diego, Calif. This year is loaded with general sessions relating to topics such as Al (Artificial Intelligence) and school safety, which are two of the most discussed topics in education today. The conference also includes many one-hour educational sessions where you connect with colleagues from across the country to share strategies on improving equity, educating the whole child, district performance, and social emotional wellness. There are also many round table discussion tables that provide opportunities to network with superintendents from across the country.
He said he is looking forward to another conference that sits at the top of the list of conferences he has ever been fortunate to attend.
High School Principal Craig Courbron reported they will have a new class next year called Agriculture Structures. This class will be a cooperative endeavor between the Agriculture class and the Construction class and will focus on building and selling structures that local ranchers/farmers need. The class should be self-sustaining after an initial investment for start-up materials.
He said the high school is in the middle of curriculum reviews for all science classes, business class, and our new Career Exploration class. Those reviews are ongoing and should be completed by the end of March, at which time curriculum will be chosen.
He gave a CNA update saying the high school CNA progress is still ahead of schedule. This month, we were able to complete three more items on the action plan and anticipate finishing by the end of May.
Junior Neisha Marshall was featured in an article in Teen Vogue, a national fashion magazine. The article was about how a coding camp that Neisha attended and how she wants to use Alto help revive the Lakota language.
Here is the link to the article: https://www. teenvogue.com/story/thesecoding- camps-are-teachingindigenous- youth-to-savenative- language-through-ai The JAG Midyear Report was sent to participating JAG schools recently by the South Dakota JAG Director. Bennett County High School students were far above the state average in graduation completion, posthigh school employment, post-high school full-time employment, post-high school secondary education rate, and connectivity rate.
Courbron said Mrs. Knecht has done an amazing job taking over the program this year, and BCHS JAG continues to be one of the biggest and best JAG programs in South Dakota.
Middle School Principal Mikaela O’Bryan reported the One Act Play placed third at the Region meet and had several students receive outstanding actor awards. She said they did an amazing job.
She said they are possibly working on a spring play.
O’Bryan attended the delegate assembly on Jan. 30 which focused on bills affecting education.
There will be an Acalympics competition coming to Martin February 21 with 10 teams signed up so far.
She said they had a 42 percentattendanceforParent/ Teachers conferences, which is not too bad for the time of year it was held.
Martin Grade School Principal Riley Donovan reported they had a good turnout for Parent/Teachers conferences.
He said Wrestling Regions is this weekend and basketball playoffs start next week.
Federal Programs Director Amie Kuxhaus was not present but submitted her report.
In her report she indicates there will be Family Engagement, Project Family Chats and Student Chats planned for March.
In food service, they averaged 190 breakfasts served per day and 336 lunches per day.
Upcoming events include: Library Board meeting Feb. 15 at 1 p.m.; District Tech Team meeting Feb. 20, 3 p.m.; Snow makeup day Feb. 23; High School Music/Showcase Night Feb. 27; MS Music Concert March 5; Teacher In-Service March 8; District STEAM Family Fun Night March 14.
The board moved to accept the following resignations effective the end of the 20232024 school year: -Karen Goetzinger, Elementary Counselor effective -KeAnna Hodson, Elementary Instructor -Hannah York, Elementary Paraprofessional -Carol Risse, Middle School Instructor -Craig Courbron, BCHS Principal -Riley Donovan, Martin Grade School Principal The board moved to surplus the following technology equipment: -3 Ipads, outdated -8 Chromebooks, outdated -1 Promethean Board, too expensive to repair -9 Macbooks, outdated -3 Printers, outdated The board moved to appoint Kayla Claussen to the Board of Equalization. The meeting will be held March 18, 2024, at 5 p.m. in the City Office.
The board moved to approve 25 days from the sick leave bank days for Lonna Johnson.
The March board meeting will be March 18 but moved to a 6 p.m. start time.
The board moved to enter executive session for personnel matters pursuant to SDCL 1-25-2(1), student issues pursuant to SDCL 1-252(2), negotiations pursuant to SDCL 1-25-2(4), legal issues pursuant to SDCL 1-25-2(3).
The board came out of executive session with no action taken.