by Heath Larson

ASBSD Executive Director

It’s a beautiful time of year in South Dakota. The temperatures cool, fall foliage occurs, and the opening of pheasant season is upon us. We attract guests from around the country and world to our great state. As I travel throughout South Dakota meeting with stakeholder groups and advocating for public education, I am continually reminded of the care and passion we all have for our kids, schools, and communities.

Please take a few minutes to read our ASBSD Highlights & Insights newsletter which contains a significant amount of information focused on the work being done across South Dakota for our schools and to benefit public education.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: ZOOM PRESENTATION ON VOUCHERS ASBSD and SASD (School Administrators of South Dakota) have collaboratively worked to bring our memberships this learning opportunity.

Please mark your calendars for 7:30 p.m. (Central) on Sunday, November 17, to participate in a presentation from Josh Cowen, a Michigan State professor, on the harmful impact of school vouchers. Vouchers, or a variety of other terms that are used interchangeably, boils down to the use of public funds for non-public students.

The presentation, which will be recorded if you cannot attend live, will be a short history of educational privatization, how school vouchers defund public schools and devastate student learning, and how billionaires have turned to culture wars to sell voucher schemes moving forward. He will also discuss the voucher movement, impacts on all school districts, and share valuable information that will be beneficial for you to know.

Josh has authored: The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers which is now available if you are interested.

Please watch for additional information that will be shared as we move closer to November 17.

We are hearing of many successes that our South Dakota schools are sharing and celebrating in their communities. Keep up the great work!

ASBSD’s 2024 Delegate Assembly is scheduled for Friday, November 22 in Fort Pierre at the Drifters Event Center beginning at 1 p.m. (Central) and EACH member district should appoint a board member to represent their school board and vote on positions that help set our legislative direction.

Click the links to review ASBSD’s proposed resolutions and standing positions for the 2025 legislative session.

Each resolution or standing position with a change has an explanation of the proposed change underneath it in red.

The Delegate appointment form is online and can be found by CLICKING THIS LINK and completing the information requested for the school board member your board has appointed. Or, if you’d prefer, you can forward your delegate’s name and contact information to tpickner@asbsd.org.

School boards appointing a board member as a Delegate will earn 25 ALL points!

Member districts can also submit a new or amended resolution or standing position, or suggest deletion of a resolution or standing position, by completing the 2024 ASBSD Delegate Assembly Member Resolution-Standing Position Form, which can be found by CLICKING HERE.

If you have questions about submitting a delegate or Delegate Assembly, please contact Director of Communications Tyler Pickner at tpickner@asbsd.org or at 605-773-8382 or at 605-881-3791.

The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a new resource for K-12 schools.

According to CISA, the “Anonymized Threat Response Guidance: A Toolkit for K-12 Schools” can help schools and their law enforcement partners to create tailored approaches to addressing anonymous threats of violence, including those received on social media.

Click here to download the toolkit.

The toolkit and accompanying reference guide are available to download via CISA’s website.

The South Dakota School Safety Center, under the direction of the state Department of Public Safety, offers its Safe2Say statewide tip line that allows South Dakota students, school staff, and community members to safely and anonymously report sensitive information.

Questions about the center’s services or resources can be sent to S.D. School Safety Program Specialist Brett Garland at brett.garland@state.sd.us.

The South Dakota Department of Education has extended funding for one more year of the Dakota Dreams Teacher Leadership Academy.

This FREE Academy is dedicated to helping experienced teachers develop their educational leadership skills and explore administrative roles and responsibilities in schools. Teachers who successfully complete the course will earn three graduate credits, which can be seamlessly applied toward an advanced degree in education.

Click this link: Teacher Leadership Academy video to learn more about the program from academy faculty and previous participants.

The Details of the program:

• Hone Leadership Skills and Explore New Roles
• Earn 3 Graduate Credits that can be seamlessly applied toward an Advanced Ed. Degree
• 60 Participants Will Be Accepted
• Applications close November 17, 2024
• Participants will meet over three 2-day sessions during the school year (dates and locations below).

Dates & Locations include:

• January 27-28, 2025 at USD in Sioux Falls with day one running from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and day two running from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• February 24-25, 2025 at NSU in Aberdeen with day one running from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and day two running from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• March 10-11, 2025 at BHSU in Rapid City with day one running from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and day two running from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

APPLY TODAY

Learn more about this great opportunity by clicking this link: Our Dakota Dreams and click here to: APPLY today!

ASBSD and COSA’s school law webinar series has begun for 2024-25 with eight important school law related topics on the schedule.

As always with the ASBSD/COSA School Law webinar series if you can’t attend live, you can still get the information through the recorded version of the webinar! '

The 2024-25 webinar topics include:

• Recorded Webinar: Special Education & Student Discipline with Tyler Coverdale
• Tuesday, November 12 Subpoenas, Restraining Orders & Custody Issues with Rodney Freeman
• Tuesday, December 10 Student Threat Assessments with Sam Kerr & Rory King
• Tuesday, January 14 School Board Employee & Student Hearings - Process & Procedures with Gerry Kaufman
• Tuesday, February 11 Church & State Issues with Rory King
• Tuesday, March 11 ADA with Sara Hento
• Tuesday, April 8 Conflict of Interest with presenter to be determined
• Tuesday, May 13 Enrollment Issues with Tyler Coverdale

To register for a webinar, or ALL the webinars, click on the link above that corresponds with the webinar of your choice and follow these instructions (click link to open): ASBSD Event Registration Information for Individuals, to complete registration, which will cost $25 per webinar OR for $175 for the series.

Board members registering earn 20 ALL points per webinar for their board and participants will also earn 1 hour of continuing education units!

If you have questions about the seminar or webinar or need assistance registering, please contact Tyler at tpickner@asbsd.org or at 605-773-8382.

Join new ASBSD Executive Director Heath Larson and fellow school leaders to discuss many public education topics on Wednesday this fall as part of the Learning with Larson meeting schedule.

Come have a meal and connect with fellow board members, superintendents, business managers and other school leaders to talk about ASBSD’s resolutions and standing positions, the 2025 legislative session, and how we can work together to advocate for public education.

In-person events will have a meal served prior to the meeting and a cost of $20 per registrant with the Zoom meeting on November 13th being free.

Please note the start time next to each event, which will be held on and at:

· Wednesday, October 16 in Box Elder (561 Briggs St.) at 5:30 p.m. (Mountain)

· Wednesday, October 23 in White River (501 3rd St.) at 6 p.m. (Central)

· Wednesday, October 30 in Brandon (301 S Splitrock Blvd) at 5:30 p.m. (Central)

· Wednesday, November 6 in Timber Lake (500 Main St.) at 6 p.m. (Mountain)

· Wednesday, November 13 on Zoom at 6:30 p.m. (Central)

To register for an event, click on the link above that corresponds with the meeting of your choice and follow these instructions (click link to open): ASBSD Event Registration Information for Individuals, to complete registration. There will be a $15 cancellation fee if registration is not cancelled more than 48 hours prior to the meeting.

Board members participating will earn 20 ALL points!

If you have questions about the meetings or need assistance with registration, please contact Director of Communication Tyler Pickner at tpickner@asbsd.org or at 605-881-3791 or 605-773-8382.