by Heath Larson

Executive Director

I am excited to announce Roxanne Heezen as the ASBSD CFO/Director of Protective Trust beginning April 3.

Roxanne has served the past fifteen years as the Finance Director for the city of Fort Pierre, including being named City Finance Director of the Year for South Dakota in 2024.

Mrs. Heezen also has numerous years prior to that as a financial analyst at Bureau of Finance and Management for the state of South Dakota along with Department of Revenue.

Roxanne, her husband John, and family live near Pierre. We are excited for Roxanne to join our team.

Welcome, Roxanne.

With the conclusion of the 2025 legislative session and the confirmation school districts will receive a 1.25 percent increase in state aid for next school year, we can turn our attention to the accountabilities public school districts receiving state aid will be required to meet.

There are two accountability requirements for public schools for the 2025-26 school year:

• Average Teacher Compensation
• General Fund Cash Balance

Average Teacher Compensation

Each school district must increase its average teacher compensation so the cumulative increase in the average teacher compensation since the 2023-24 school year is greater than or equal to the cumulative percentage change in the target teacher salary since 2024.

A school district complies with the average teacher compensation if the average is at least 97% of the average teacher compensation otherwise required.

ASBSD’s suggestion is to use the S.D. Department of Education’s Teacher Compensation calculator to determine your district’s figure.

Click here to download the Average Teacher Compensation calculator.

Once you have opened the calculator, you can select your school district at the top in the drop-down window and it will tell you what your teacher compensation figure is for Fiscal Year 2026/the 2025-26 School Year.

For more information, contact the Department of Education's Office of Finance and Management at 605-773-3248.

General Fund Cash Balance

A school district’s general fund cash balance accountability is based on enrollment tiers that determine the percentage the fund balance can be compared to a school district's state aid for general education as calculated pursuant to 13-13-73.

Enrollment tiers for the general fund cash balance accountability include:

• Less than 200 students – 40 percent
• 200 to 600 students – 30 percent
• More than 600 students – 25 percent

If the result of the comparison is less than zero, then the district has met the accountability.

If a district's lowest monthly cash balance percent is in excess of the allowable percentage, state aid to general education funding to the district in the following fiscal year will be reduced by the amount in excess.

ASBSD’s suggestion is to use the S.D. Department of Education’s General Fund Cash Balance Penalty calculator to determine your district’s figure.

Click here to download the General Fund Cash Balance Penalty calculator.

Once you have opened the calculator, you can select your school district at the top in the drop-down window and enter the required information.

For more information, contact the Department of Education's Office of Finance and Management at 605-773-3248.

Minimum Teacher Salary NOT an accountability for next school year

A minimum teacher salary accountability was established during the 2024 legislative session, but will not be implemented until the 2026-27 school year.

However, the minimum teacher salary was set at $45,000 for the 2024-25 school year and with the 1.25 percent increase provided this year, the minimum teacher salary increased $45,563 according to DOE’s Teacher Compensation calculator.

It is ASBSD’s suggestion your district reaches a minimum salary of $45,563 for the upcoming school year in order to keep pace with the minimum teacher salary as it will increase again next year based on the increase in state aid provided each year by the legislature.

Again, there is NO minimum teacher salary accountability for the 2025-26 school year, but our suggestion is to attempt to keep up with the $45,563 figure so when the accountability is implemented you are at the level necessary.

If your district is at or above the minimum teacher salary figure you are where you need to be.

School Finance Accountability Board Waiver

If your district is unable to meet one or more of the accountabilities, there is always the option to seek a waiver on each requirement from the School Finance Accountability Board (SFAB).

Each year, SFAB meets to review the school district submitted waivers from an accountability, which they can choose to approve, request action by the district or deny.

If the board denies your waiver there is a penalty that can be handed down to your district for not meeting the requirements in state law.

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

The premier learning event for South Dakota school board members and administrators is seeking people to share their expertise and knowledge with the large contingent of school leaders who will attend the 2025 ASBSD-SASD Convention.

The ASBSD-SASD Convention is scheduled to be held at the Sioux Falls Convention Center on Thursday and Friday, August 7-8.

Download the Breakout Session proposal form here and submit it by Friday, April 11 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.

We have outstanding educational leaders in South Dakota.

Please join the South Dakota School Superintendent Association in celebrating our public school superintendents by submitting nominations for the following awards:

Outstanding Superintendent of the Year

The SDSSA Executive Board honors an “Outstanding Superintendent of the Year” Award to honor a superintendent who has made significant contributions to Leadership for Learning, Communication, Professionalism, and Community Involvement.

Download the nomination form here.

Community Leader of the Year

The SDSSA Executive Board has instituted a “Community Leader” Award to honor a superintendent who has made an investment in his/her community above and beyond the scope of the school district’s responsibilities.

Download the nomination form here.

Innovator of the Year

The SDSSA Executive Board has instituted an “Innovator of the Year” Award to honor a superintendent who has exhibited exemplary leadership ability in creating new programs or concepts that have a positive impact on staff development, recruitment, or retention, or creating new programming that directly impacts student learning, student achievement, or student educational experiences.

Download the nomination form here.

Rookie of the Year

The SDSSA Executive Board has instituted a “Rookie of the Year” Award to honor a superintendent in their first three years in the profession who has exhibited exemplary leadership ability in making a difference in their school district through new programs or concepts that have a positive impact on the dynamics of the district.

Download the nomination form here.

Distinguished Service Award

The SDSSA Executive Committee has instituted a Distinguished Service Award to honor retired or retiring superintendents who have exhibited exemplary leadership ability and have enhanced the school's superintendency in South Dakota.

Download the nomination form here.

All individuals nominated for Outstanding Superintendent will be automatically nominated for Community Leader and Innovator of the Year. Individuals may submit specific nominations for Innovator and Community Leader of the Year.

Please complete the components associated with the nomination. All nominations should include the basic data and overview sheet.

Nominations are due by March 28.