By Douglas R. Wermedal, PhD

ASBSD Executive Director

Reading education research can frequently be complex and time consuming. This article is designed to be an appetizer of sorts and introduce topics which the reader may choose to pursue further by following the citation at the end of the summary paragraph. Amongst the selections below you will find relevant educational themes ranging from effective and ineffective board service strategies, to teacher morale, to the latest on AI. We begin by looking at South Dakota’s recent teacher compensation legislation.

South Dakota Teacher Compensation in Context – SB 127 established a minimum starting teacher salary of $45,000 which is amongst the highest in the nation According to the National Council on Teacher Quality as reported by the Education Commission of the States 14 states require a starting minimums salary. Only Hawaii at $45,593 has a higher minimum starting salary. In the 14 states with minimum salary requirements the average salary is $37,070. The lowest minimum salary is $24,568 in Kentucky. The average teacher salary in the U.S. is $65,293. The 14 states with required minimum salaries are noted in the table to the right. (Fischer, Adrienne. 2024, February 15. Response to legislative question regarding teacher salaries. Education Commission of the States).

Public School Students Top Voucher-Funded Peers in Reading and Math Scores-- (Illinois) – "A 14-month study focusing on grades 3 – 8 found that public school students performed better than voucher-funded students on the Illinois Assessment of Reading. Illinois lawmakers allowed this voucher program 'Invest in Kids' to sunset without renewal." (No author listed. 2024, March 13. Illinois public school students outperform voucher peers. Education Week, 43(20). 3.).

School Attendance as Impactful to Health as Diet and Exercise – "A sweeping study of 40 years of data on adult mortality, from 600 studies in 59 countries shows that completing a k-12 diploma plus a college degree reduced adult mortality by a whopping 34 percent. Conversely not going to school, not completing a diploma has a negative impact as substantial as smoking a half-pack of cigarettes a day for 10 years." (No author listed. 2024, January 31. Staying in school the secret to living a long healthy life, Education Week, 43(15). 2.).

District Culture Matters -- (Georgia) – In a study of 168 school districts the following attributes were indicators for effective educational environments: Strong administrative and school board leadership; an intense and sustained focus on student achievement; existence of and implementation of a strategic plan; quality recruitment and supervision; accountability and monitoring; and communication. How are you doing on this list? Perhaps, pick an area to work on as a board goal for the upcoming year. (Miller-Smith, Kim. 2024, March. Building district cultures that lead to student success. Ohio School Management News.).

Teacher Morale Index – A newly developed metric within the State of Teaching Survey shows that teachers in rural environments have much higher morale than their counterparts in urban, suburban settings. The highest morale by subject was foreign languages and CTE teachers. (Kurtz, Holly. 20224, March 2. Overall teacher morale is low, but some struggle more than others. Education Week, 14(19). 15.).

Effective School Board Traits Researched – (Michigan) The best performing school boards had these traits in common according to current research. Commit to a vision of high expectations for student achievement; effective school boards spend less time on operational issues and more time on student achievement; effective boards have a collaborative relationship with staff; effective boards are data savvy; effective school boards align and sustain resources. (Gvist, Lou Ann. The Iowa Lighthouse Studies: Shining a the light on how boards can make a significant difference in student learning. Leaderboard Magazine, 10 (1) 12.).

Ineffective Board Member Behaviors – (Connecticut) – A 30-year board trainer provides a short list of errors commonly made by board members which are barriers to optimal board service. Even board veterans can slip into these behaviors so it is a good idea to stay vigilant for these behaviors creeping into your board work. "Lack of patience; challenging the board after a vote; acting like a Lone Ranger; micromanaging administration; asking a question or providing information with intent to embarrass personnel; merely voting along party or relational lines; becoming a ball carrier for staff or community issues before administration has an opportunity to respond; breaching confidentiality of executive sessions; ignoring policy; lack of focus on student achievement." (Caruso, Nicholas D. 2024, February. 13 Mistakes Board Members Make, Nicholas D. Caruso Jr., American School Board Journal, 211(1). 20.).

New Board Member Successful Starts – (Ohio) – The temptation is to jump in and try to be the “Change Master”, or live out a single-issue agenda. “The tricky part of learning your role is to realize that you need to stay at the 30,000 foot level for good governance.” This article advises new board members to “Get to know your colleagues and be cognizant of the communication filters they use as well as your own. . .your perspective will change from board candidate to board member; from private citizen to public school official; and being an individual to a becoming a member of a team.” (Morgan, Teri. 2024, March. Jump-start your school board service career. Journal, Ohio School Boards Association, 67(6). 10.).

AI Use in Classrooms – (Wisconsin) –Teacher-authorized use of AI on an assignment-by-assignment basis permits AI use within a controlled scope and the confines of proper citation maintaining a stance which honors the ethics of original work, but also helps students engage contemporary educational tools. Wisconsin School News Comments, “Another consideration is plagiarism. Because AI tools can be used to generate text, it is important to update definitions of plagiarism to include the use of AI, set up very specific rubrics for generating text and emphasize to students the importance of proper citations. (Davis, Anne. 2024, March. Learning to live with emerging technologies. Wisconsin School News 78(7). 17.).

**ASBSD has a model policy on AI (Policy IIBFA: Use of Artificial Intelligence Technology) that strikes a balance between absolutely no use and unrestricted use which is available on ASBSD’s Policy Services website http://policy.asbsd.org.

Learning Recovery Efforts Reversing Learning Loss Trends – (Connecticut) – A Harvard-sponsored study of 8,000 school districts in 30 states show students on average gained back one-third of their original losses in math, and one quarter of the original in reading. The primary intervention appears to be tutors, and summer extended instruction in after school and summer learning programs. The improvement amount to more than what students would have learned in a regular, pre-pandemic academic year. (Banjeri, Olina. 2024, February. Learning recovery efforts worked. New data show why states must not let up. Education Week, 43(18). 5).

By Tyler Pickner

Director of Communications

During recent meetings with superintendents and business managers the South Dakota Department of Education (DOE) shared their interpretation of Senate Bill 127, which establishes a minimum teacher salary for all school districts to meet and requires increases based on the funding increases provided to state aid.

DOE’s understanding is different in the Minimum Teacher Salary portion of the bill from what ASBSD and SASD had inferred.

It is DOE’s understanding the 4 percent increase provided by the legislature during this session will NOT be applied to the Minimum Teacher Salary, which the bill established for the 2024-25 school year at $45,000.

The Department has determined the Minimum Teacher Salary of $45,000 increases every year after the 2024-25 school year by the percentage increase in state.

Their example is if a hypothetical increase of 3 percent to state aid is provided during the 2025 Session then the 2025-26 Minimum Teacher Salary will be $45,000 plus a 3 percent increase in state aid to reach a figure of $46,350.

DOE goes on to explain if during the 2026 legislative session another 3 percent increase in state aid is given, then the Minimum Teacher Salary for the 2026-27 school year, which is the first year the accountability will be in place for schools to meet, then $46,350 (as noted in the hypothetical above) plus 3 percent would equal $47,741.

Based on DOE’s interpretation, the $47,741 would be the figure school districts would need to pay teach teacher in their district at a minimum in order to meet the accountability in law.

Please note: dollar figures above, aside from the $45,000 figure established for the 2024-25 school year, are hypothetical and will change based on future legislative action.

ASBSD does recommend if you are below the $45,000 Minimum Teacher Salary you work toward that figure for the next school year to keep pace with potential increases to that figure in the years before the accountability is implemented for the 2026-27 school year.

For the Average Teacher Compensation accountability, the 4 percent increase in state aid MUST be applied to compensation for the 2024-25 school year. For each year thereafter, your district’s Average Teacher Compensation must cumulatively increase by the percentage increase provided by the legislature to state aid.

You can download the Department of Education Teacher Accountability calculator here and find additional resources at https://doe.sd.gov/ofm/schoolbudget.aspx.

SASD and the state Superintendent’s Association has also developed an Accountability Calculator to assist districts, which you can download here.

In addition, to assist in sharing with your district employees their changes in total compensation you can download the Total Compensation Statement Template in a Word Doc here or in a PDF here.

If you have questions or there’s anything we can help with, please contact an ASBSD representative: https://asbsd.org/about/contact-us/.

By Holly Nagel

Chief Financial Officer & Director of Protective Trust Services

Associated School Board Protective Trust (ASBPT) members met for the annual All-Member Renewal Meeting in Chamberlain on March 21, 2024. More than 100 members were in attendance to receive their health and workers’ compensation renewal rates and learn more about new offerings being added to the fund.

Some of the highlights discussed include:

· The health fund had an average rate increase of 4% with member districts receiving tranche increases of 0%, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8%. Tranches are determined by each district’s three-and-a-half-year loss ratio.

· ASBPT health fund has an eight-year average rate increase of 1.875%! ASBPT true association plan risk sharing is designed to ensure the entire plan remains stable for ALL participants. Premium rate increases vary by a few percentage points year after year; not double-digit differences.

· With mental health access continuing to be a challenge in South Dakota, staff enrolled on the ASBPT health fund will have up to four no cost 1-on-1 counseling sessions through Well365 beginning July 1, 2024.

· As an addition to the on-site biometric screenings and flu shots currently being offered, plan members will also have access to the Annual Wellness & Health Coaching Platform along with High-Risk Health Coaching beginning July 1.

· Workers’ compensation rates for the pool were renewed at a flat rate. Member districts’ contribution changes are based on payroll and claim increases/decreases. A premium stabilization reserve was returned to the WC member districts for the seventh consecutive year.

· Workers’ compensation nurse triage line helps streamline the first report of injury to ensure injured employees receive the care they need when needed.

· Loss control for both property/liability and workers’ compensation were presented by Gallagher Bassett.

Property/liability renewal rates will be released in May.

If you would like additional information regarding any of the programs offered through ASBPT, please reach out to Holly Nagel or Heidi Jennings at ASBPT.

By Jacob Boyko

Communications Intern

Garret Bischoff attended his first school board meeting when he was in high school.

Working for the school’s student-run newscast, he recorded school board meetings that would broadcast on the school’s local cable channel.

“[The meetings] were kind of slow,” Bischoff laughed. “They weren’t really as exciting as they are now. It seems like the world has changed a little bit!”

It seemed his involvement with school boards would end there. Bischoff went on to attend South Dakota State University where he earned a degree in computer science, spent a few years in Des Moines working in the meat industry, and finally returned to Huron to work with South Dakota Farmers’ Union. Bischoff also helped operate the family farm in Huron, where he, his brother, and his father raise corn and soybean and ranch about 200 Hereford cows.

Finally back in his hometown, Bischoff got involved with Leadership Huron, an arm of the city’s chamber of commerce. As if it was his destiny, Bischoff was once again working with the school board.

“At that point in time, the Huron school board had elected to go for a $22 million bond election to remodel and build on to our elementary schools,” Bischoff explained. After working in tandem with board members, he chaired a political action committee to get the bond passed

“I then decided, hey, if I’m going to put all this work into trying to get a bond to pass, maybe I should run for school board at the same time.”

And he did.

Bischoff had two wins that April: a passed bond, and a seat on his hometown school board.

That was back in 2012. Bischoff has now served 12 years on the board, helping lead the district through numerous challenges.

He recalled navigating the COVID-19 pandemic as the most difficult time to be on the board.

“There was such a polarized issue that had two pretty vocal sides that were very opposite,” Bischoff recalled. “Getting everybody to be on the same page about that was difficult and you’d have half the people mad at you for one decision or another.”

Another challenge for the board was figuring out how to address the changing demographics in Huron.

“We’ve got a very large population of English-second-language students in our district, which started out as a challenge,” Bischoff explained.

At the 2010 census, Huron’s 12,592 population was nearly 87% white. But as the population surged from new employment opportunities like a new turkey processing plant, the demographics shifted.

By 2020, the population was only 65% white, with Asian and Hispanic populations increasing to 12% and 15%, respectively.

Noting they needed to accommodate new minority students, the school board worked with ASBSD to promote legislation that allowed English second language instructors to be paid at a higher rate.

Bischoff’s sister, Abby, said she and her close-age brother both benefited greatly from the opportunities Huron’s public schools presented to them, and that she’s immensely proud of her brother for working to give the next generation the same.

“I was proud of him for stepping into a role that would support the schools that shaped us both,” she said. “Over a decade later, he’s still giving back. There’s no doubt in my mind that Garret has made his community better through his service on the Huron school board and ASBSD. I’m so proud of him.”

Garret admits serving on the school board can sometimes be a thankless job, acknowledging it’s impossible to always please everyone. But throughout his more-than-a-decade of service, Bischoff’s focus isn’t on the criticism; it’s about providing a better education for his two sons, Cooper (15) and Peyton (18), and the 2,939 other students enrolled at Huron’s public schools.

“Educating everybody is really important,” Bischoff said. “What our country is built on is being able to educate everybody no matter what and give everybody an equal opportunity.”

Associated School Boards of South Dakota and School Administrators of South Dakota are getting ready for the joint convention Aug. 8-9 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, and we need your help!

Do you or someone you know have expertise or knowledge that could benefit school administrators or board members? Now's the time to share with the world!

Download the Breakout Session proposal form here and submit it by Friday, April 12 to kara.brandlee@sasd.org.

ASBSD and SASD will review submitted proposals and contact the applicant(s) of proposals at a date in the future.

If you have questions, about breakout session proposals or Convention, please contact Kara Brandlee with SASD at kara.brandlee@sasd.org.

The next round of Artificial Intelligence training events for school board members and administrators have been scheduled.

The AI 2.0 trainings will be in the following locations:

· Wednesday, April 24 in Rapid City at Western Dakota Tech

· Friday, April 26 in Aberdeen at Simmons Middle School

· Tuesday, April 30 in Harrisburg with location to be determined.

The training will begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude around 3:30 p.m. SASD and partners are continuing to work on the agenda and will provide it when available.

Registration is through the School Administrators of South Dakota (SASD) so you will need to contact an administrator in your district to complete the process. The cost will be $100.00 for the first person to register and $50.00 for the rest.

If you have questions, please contact Tyler Pickner at tpickner@asbsd.org.Thank you!

The South Dakota Office of Indian Education has announced the launch of the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings and Standards (OSEUS) Online Training Course.

The course was created to assist administrators and teachers in integrating the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings into their schools and classrooms. This online course is free and self-paced, allowing educators to fit the class around their schedules.

Currently, the course is only available to educators with a K12.sd.us email address. The course contains three sections: “Getting to Know the OSEUS,” “Culturally Responsive Practices,” and “Creating Lessons with Inquiry Design Model.”

Watch a promotional video.

Educators will be offered continuing education credits or graduate credits upon completing the three-part course.

Want to improve your school board skills?

The Associated School Boards of South Dakota offers several workshops through their GAVEL program. School Boards and Superintendents can gain valuable knowledge in a wide range of topics including:

1. Governance 101: Learn the basics of how to be an effective board member. The workshop walks boards and administrators through hands-on experiences to learn about Board / Superintendent responsibilities, understanding state law as it relates to school boards, the importance of policy development, teamwork, and many other topics.

2. Fiscal Responsibility: This workshop teaches board members the fundamentals of school finance. Boards will study state and local finance information to gain a better understanding of how school finance works and how it directly impacts their school district.

3. Goal Setting and Strategic Planning: These services help school boards and superintendents walk through the steps of setting basic goals for their district or takes the team through a detailed look at school and community data and inputs to help the district set up a strategic plan.

Dr. Wade Pogany, Senior Consultant, for Dakota Education Consulting, has over 40 years of experience working in education. He brings an engaging, dynamic and thoughtful approach to his trainings and can also customize workshops to fit your needs.

For more information or to set up a training date, please contact:

Dr. Wade Pogany

wpogany.DEC@gmail.com

Call or text: +1 (605) 222-0889

By Douglas R. Wermedal, PhD

Author’s Note: Rigid seating charts may be part of a bygone era in education, but in the simple relationship between principal and students when discipline is necessary, that helps creates the possibility for learning, and where being sorry for something is all it takes to get along.

We sat dutifully at our wood-topped desks, each student stationed in strict alphabetical order. The same kids, the same small K-6 country school using the same seating chart from kindergarten and into fourth grade. During the first five years of my formal education, this sacred seating chart put Janelle Thompson at the desk directly in front of me. Janelle and her very long brown hair, way past her shoulders, but not yet to her waist. Each day that lengthy ponytail was right there in front of me. Brunette, tied up in cheery, bright ribbons and bouncing with each head nod like it was punctuating her sentences. Frequently, her ponytail would sweep across my desk and knock my trusty No. 2 pencil from its perch in the little pencil trench on the wood-topped desk and on to the green vinyl tile floor. She would always giggle an apology, but the constant ponytail induced pencil chase routine could become tiresome.

At about this time in fourth grade we alphabetized pupils were unhappily introduced to fractions. One morning during “fraction-hell” Janelle’s prodigious ponytail sent my fraction-figuring utensil skittering across the floor and, in a miracle of physics, right out the door into the yellow dappled terrazzo hallway. I explained to the teacher what had happened, and she regarded the entire tale with healthy suspicion. Likely an elaborate ruse, to get out of fraction computing. To be fair previous behaviors had probably given her reason to be dubious about the truth of this tale, but she reluctantly gave me permission to retrieve the pencil from the hallway.

I saw her watching me through the skinny bookmark window in the door to the classroom and the look of mild surprise on her face when there actually was a pencil in the hallway. I sat back down to a daunting blank page of frustrating fraction problems, and an impulse seized me that in retrospect I cannot believe I had resisted to that point. I grabbed Janelle’s ponytail and gave it a good yank. She let out a surprised yelp like a wounded coyote. Her hair felt solid in my grip like a rope, so I gave it a second tug slightly stronger like I was starting a lawn mower. I think it was this second pull that landed me in principal’s office. The second pull shows premeditation.

Under escort of my teacher, I trudged to Principal’s Office like a condemned man to the gallows. The principal’s office was scary; I had not been there a lot but I heard reliable rumors of kids who went in and were never seen again. Inside the inner sanctum of his actual office, clouds wreathed his desktop and lightning periodically flashed from where I guessed his chair was, but could not make out because of the heavy cloud cover.

“Why did ya do it son?”, came a deep raspy voice from within the clouds.

“I don’t know,” I said taking a sudden interest in my shoes and giving the answer of every grade school child in trouble.

“Mr. Wermedal, I am told you did it twice.”

“Yup,” I saw no point in fibbing because like all kids at that age, I believed in the omniscience of the principal.

Suddenly I was angry that I was in trouble at all, and that Janelle and her stupid jumbo ponytail was not. I felt my face flush hotly and I blurted out, almost shouted, “Anyways she knocked my pencil clear into the hallway. It happens all the time,” (classic kid in trouble overstatement).

I could sense a tone change in the principal, his voice was less corrective and more curious as it emanated from his cloud shrouded desk. “Is this the Thompson girl with that long ponytail?”

“Yup,” I said, anger rapidly receding and showing renewed interest in my footwear.

The principal launched into a long droning speech about how a series of increasingly unlikely events beginning with indiscriminate hair pulling would likely lead to jail time as an adult. Didn’t I want to spare my family that shame? He was an amateur guilt-mongerer compared to my mom who could parlay nearly any misdeed of mine into somehow losing the farm. Where I was once frightened of the principal I was now just bored. Even my shoes were losing their allure.

I checked back into the conversation as the Principal indicated if I apologized to Janelle, then regular instruction at Hayward Elementary School could resume. Back in the classroom I mumbled a deeply insincere apology to Janelle, who was luckily the forgiving sort,. She just said, “That’s okay,” giggled, and turned away. The principal lingered in the classroom for a bit and whispered conspiratorially with my teacher both periodically gesturing in sweeping motions over the classroom. Something was afoot. The next day I came to school and we had a new seating chart for the first time in four years. Now I sat behind Kendra Larson. Nice girl, Kendra. Wears her hair in pig tails.