School talks ESSER, RX pot

Superintendent Blake Gardner introduced the basic proposal for the American Recovery Plan (ARP)/Elementary and Secondary School Education Recovery (ESSER) for the 2021-2022 school year at the Aug. 9 meeting of the Hill City School District Board of Education.

Gardner laid out a proposed budget for the ARP/ESSER III funds for the current school year and beyond and the public can access those details on the school’s website. Also see related article on the front page of this week’s issue. 

At the outset of the meeting, Sara Hile was present and representing parents and students, and she expressed her desire to see more parents and families involved in school board meetings and in the schools in general.

Much of the discussion for the ARP/ESSER III revolved around the potential for improving the current in-person learning environment, storage and transportation ease with the social distancing requirements of the pandemic AND ease of access for those wanting to observe sporting, academic and extra-curricular events with streaming capabilities. These would of course include football and basketball games and other sporting events, as well as choir concerts, plays, etc. The excitement to include other events was expressed from the board, the administration and the educators who were present at the meeting.

There was also much discussion of the loss-learning mitigation and educator professional development, as well as addressing workforce challenges and student well-being. Gardner expressed that this is the planning stage and that this ESSER III information is a “working document” and will need to be analyzed and evaluated as they proceed.

During the reports portion of the board meeting there were comments from almost all segments of the district. Most notably were the challenges of preparing for the school year in technology and the good results the high school and middle school have experienced with the EXOS program through Monument Health. 

Bryon Christian, Technology Director, has been working toward preparedness with many of the students having wireless access now with the laptops being used in the education process. Wade Ginsbach, Activities Director, gave an update on the success of the EXOS outreach for Monument Health over the summer. The trainers with EXOS were able to work with approximately 20 high school girls, 20 high school boys and approximately 20 total middle schoolers to do weight lifting, functional movement exercises and more throughout the summer. The district is hoping to be able to see this training continue during the school year but it may be that it will only be available for high schoolers at this time. 

High school/middle school principal Todd Satter said there are already approximately 170 high school enrollees and approximately 110 enrollees in the middle school so far this year. 

Business manager Anjar Voorhees reported that the school’s audit will be done Aug. 24-26. She also gave an update on the FDA’s food service plan for the school year. As of now, the FDA will be paying for breakfasts and lunches for each student in the district. 

The board also received and approved the only bid for fuel oil and it came from Stern Oil, with the bid coming in at $1.47/gal, a sharp increase over last year. The board approved both the ARP/ESSER III plan and the COVID plan for the fall, adding that it wants Gardner to be able to enforce and amend the COVID plan as needed, informing the board in a timely fashion of any enforcements or changes. 

The action to accept open enrollments applications was met with extended discussion by board members and Gardner. Not all open enrollment applications were able to be accepted, as the school’s limited staffing and space would not allow for quality education of so many students. Each application was evaluated and those accepted were done so with both the current students and those applying student’s education and best learning practices at heart. 

Also approved by the board were coach and teacher contracts, as well as the South Dakota High School Activities Assoc. Runoff Election No. 2 and the an authorization for  Voorhees to invest funds that are currently held in a savings account in to a 24-month CD with the best rates possible.

The discussion item on the agenda for this meeting was a policy update on the Drug and Alcohol policy with regard to the new medical marijuana bill that went into effect in South Dakota July 1.

The discussion included questions regarding who is responsible for doses given to students during school time and how the school will handle teachers who might need to dose during the school day. Several items regarding the handling of this were discussed so as to maintain safety for all students and faculty as well as meeting the needs of those who require this treatment going forward.

The meeting wrapped up after this policy discussion with no executive session.