Board discusses policies and school vouchers

By Carrie Moritz, Gazette

On Monday, the Garretson School Board held their monthly regular meeting and discussed legislative resolutions against school vouchers, looked at a policy that would update public complaints about school personnel or procedures, and talked about modifying the school dress code.

Documents from the Associated School Boards of South Dakota (ASBSD) outlining their stance is set up to show legislators what they do and do not support as far as legislation is concerned. Superintendent Guy Johnson pointed out that he was grateful to see more support towards student and staff health and mental wellness, as well as an increase in proposals for more pathways and scholarships to attract people into the teaching profession. ASBSD intends to work towards more funding for scholarships to go towards those who wish to be teachers, especially if it's a career change, or as a way to keep young people in the state of South Dakota.

"One of the things that folks don't realize all the time is that once you get kids started in South Dakota, you get their friends group here by going to college and all of that kind of stuff, especially if it's one of those programs where it requires you to stay in South Dakota a few years after you graduate, oftentimes people put roots down and, you know, they get married, they start a family, all of that kind of stuff," said Superintendent Johnson. "And, you know, I see that as a significant benefit."

ASBSD also added a stance outlining why school vouchers or defunding of education for alternative forms of education are not a good idea, stating that "More than 140,000 students are enrolled in the public school district system, which accounts for more than 80 percent of the total K-12 school aged children in the state. With four out of every five K-12 school aged children in South Dakota enrolled in public schools, it is imperative for the good of the state the available public funds be utilized for public education and no other education systems."

Superintendent Johnson elaborated on that stance, saying, "Other states that have done that have seen their state budgets just absolutely explode, and I guess from our perspective, in the public schools, anytime that they're siphoning money off for any other school system, is going to be bad for public schools, so I would expect that to be pretty vocal opposition on the part of our people out there in Pierre."

Johnson said he opposes the lack of oversight in homeschooling in South Dakota, as oftentimes, it can be used as a way to avoid consequences.

"We worry about those kids falling through the cracks," he said.

A big piece of why public education is so important, said board member Shannon Nordstrom, is the requirement that all students be given the tools and skills to succeed, especially those who need extra help or special education resources. 

"[When] you start siphoning that money, and then people often forget about the work that public schools do for kids that need the extra help, and kids with disabilities and all those different things that the public schools take care of, and it just gets that much harder if you keep shrinking that pie," he said.

"One of the hardest things about education is programs are people, and people cost money," Superintendent Johnson said.

ASBSD also reiterated the local control stance, outlining that schools should be able to have control over their own curriculum and procedures. However, they intend to lobby for extra funding for schools, including the removal of a growth cap that limits state funding to 3% or an increase in inflation, whichever is less. Part of this is in response to increases in staff and teacher pay as a way to retain good educators in the state.

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