4 decisions by the Sioux Falls School Board you need to know for the start of the year
Between a school board work session in the press box at Howard Wood Field, to a regular school board meeting at the Instructional Planning Center, Sioux Falls School District’s top administrators and school board members had a busy day on Monday.
Both meetings were chock full of newsworthy nuggets for students, parents, teachers and taxpayers alike in the district.
Here are some of the things you should know.
Chronic absenteeism grant
The district announced it was awarded a $1.5 million three-year grant from the South Dakota Department of Education to address chronic absenteeism. The Argus Leader last reported on the district’s grant application two months ago.
Research has shown the six most effective methods for improving student attendance include one-to-one family and student relationships, transportation provisions, course work recovery, access to mental health support, student involvement and personal communication.
Focus will be put on Garfield, Hawthorne, Hayward and Terry Redlin elementary schools, as well as George McGovern and Whittier middle schools, with this grant. The district has hired six attendance liaisons at those schools: Reginald Burkette, Brandi Everette, Jessica Walton, Rochelle Holloway, Kristal Shoffeitt and Suzannah Reaves, respectively.
Home visits, routine texts, connections to community resources, transportation and advertising and communications strategies are also being implemented to work on this issue.
“It’s really hard to learn if you’re not in school,” board president Carly Reiter said. “It’s not the same as getting a worksheet to take home. Teachers are so important in that role.”
School safety update
District safety coordinator Dave Osterquist presented the board with the district’s safe and secure schools plan for the year, including updates on the district’s use of new programs like Safe2Say, comprehensive school threat assessment guidelines, an application for a grant to upgrade security at Howard Wood Field, and more.
Ongoing safety measures include drills, exercises, radio network, school resource officers, visitor management, secured facilities, video cameras and notification systems.
Some school administrators are also piloting a new field testing app on their phones that they can use to pull up each school’s safety plan as needed.
As a result of an October 2022 swatting call at Lincoln High School, Osterquist and other district stakeholders came up with a secure classroom protocol that will allow learning to continue in classrooms even if there’s a distraction in the hallway, he explained.
Gymnastics equipment to be sold
The school district’s old gymnastics equipment will be sold next month as it’s “no longer necessary, useful or suitable for school purposes,” according to a resolution adopted by the school board Monday night.
Pending sale of the equipment follows the board’s decision in July to officially adopt the district’s recommendation of cutting the gymnastics program from the budget.
The equipment has been appraised by 12 different people. Notice of sale of the property will be prepared by district business manager Todd Vik, and sealed bids for the property are due to the district by 11 a.m. Sept. 11.
Lunch update
All students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch will get free school lunch this school year, district business manager Todd Vik explained during a school board work session on Monday afternoon.
Vik said this is the first year the district has tried this new approach to feeding students and will serve as a kind of pilot program to see how it’s received.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: 4 decisions by the Sioux Falls School Board you need to know for the start of the year
