MITCHELL — The Mitchell School Board spent about 90 minutes Monday night reviewing and discussing a number of district policies before unanimously approving them on first reading.
The discussion and vote took place on Monday, Aug. 26, at the Mitchell Career and Technical Education Academy board meeting.
The board reviewed policy blocks 400 through 600, most of which relate to fiscal management or fiscal policy. The board spent much of the meeting reviewing language and answering questions, and most changes were minor additions or clarifications. The review is part of a four-year cycle in which district policies are regularly presented to the board.
School Board member Terry Aslesen asked most of the questions and offered most of the suggestions for changes to the policy language. He said it's important to review the policy from time to time to make sure the district's rules and regulations are in line with modern sensibilities and state and federal law.
Ensuring the language is clear to members of the public who may be interested is also important, he said.
“I'm not looking for anything in particular, I'm just looking to see if the average person can read it and understand it. Does the policy really say what we want it to say? Most of the time, when something is put in place, people just skim over it and don't necessarily notice it,” Aslesen said after the meeting.
Mitchell School Board Chairwoman Brittney Flood agreed that such a policy review would be good for the public as well as board members.
“That's important,” Flood said, “just knowing how fast things are moving in the world and being able to update that and put it in the right words so people can understand things better, too, because when an issue comes up, we want people to be able to find those resources and have a clear understanding of what's in our policies and why.”
The board also approved a second reading of Mitchell Technical College's policy for the 400-600 block. The policy covers similar protocols to the blocks discussed in the Mitchell School District's K-12 policy. The review, with modifications, was unanimously approved on second reading.
The K-12 policy will be brought before the board again for a second consideration and final approval at the board's next regular meeting, which is currently scheduled for Sept. 9 at Mitchell Middle School.
Azresen said he was pleased to have the opportunity to have a formal board meeting to discuss and review the policy, even if the changes were minor.
“I think it's been a good discussion and most of the changes are small so they won't make a big practical difference,” Aslesen said.
Policy 211, which is outside the planned review block of policies 400 through 600 and deals with compensation for school board members, was brought to the meeting by Mitchell School District Superintendent Joe Childs and added to Monday night's agenda. The addition to the agenda failed 4-1, with Deb Olson, Shawn Ruml, Deb Everson and Flood voting against adding the item and Aslesen voting in favor of adding it. Ruml participated in the meeting by phone.
Olson said during the meeting that he supports postponing the review of Policy 211 until the next board meeting and including Policy 211 in agenda materials made public before the meeting.
Childs said he has no problem with Policy 211 being reviewed at the next meeting.
The policy will be considered for first reading at the board meeting on September 9 and will then be given a second reading at a later meeting.
The full discussion of the revised K-12 policies can be viewed on the archived livestream of the Aug. 26 meeting on the Mitchell Republic website.
Mitchell Tech vehicle purchase
The board approved the purchase of a new vehicle for Mitchell Tech College.
The board unanimously approved the purchase of a 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 pickup for use in the school's electric program. The cost of $55,199 will be covered by a contract with Sourcewell and available rebates, as well as money from the state equipment fund.
The board unanimously approved the purchase, which was added to the meeting agenda.
At the meeting, the Board also approved the following personnel changes:
- Middle school head football coach William Sieffen is a newly certified hire at $3,122, and Educators Rising advisor Leslie Rylance is a newly certified hire at $1,795. Both hires are effective for the 2024-25 school year.
- The new hires are: HilaRae Shelton, 0.6 computer assistant/0.4 teacher aide at Longfellow Elementary, $16 per hour, 7.25 hours per day, effective Aug. 14. Mackenzie Olsen, teacher aide at Mitchell Middle School, $18 per hour, 7.25 hours per day, effective Aug. 21. Eva Christensen, teacher aide at LB Williams Elementary, $16 per hour, 7 hours per day, effective Aug. 27. Wild Mike Pata, middle school football assistant coach and middle school wrestling head coach, $2,601 as football assistant coach and $3,122 as wrestling head coach, effective for the 2024-25 school year. Drew Scholten, freshman assistant football coach, $3,142, effective for the 2024-25 school year, and Marcus Roethlisberger, junior high wrestling assistant, $2,244, effective for the 2024-25 school year.
- John Jack Fitzler, a paraeducator at Mitchell High School, was transferred to maintenance worker position effective Aug. 12.
- Kennedy Schilling, a teaching assistant at L.B. Williams Elementary, resigned effective Aug. 14, Angela Herrick, a teaching assistant at Mitchell High School, resigned effective Aug. 30, Stephanie Kampshoff, a teaching assistant at Longfellow Elementary, resigned effective Sept. 11 and No. 7 boys basketball coach Anthony De La Torre will step down beginning with the 2024-25 school year until a suitable replacement can be found.
The board also stated at its Aug. 26 meeting:
- Approved a date for a board work session on Oct. 28 to discuss the district’s strategic plan and goals with Wade Pogany.
- I heard the executive report.
- I heard the supervisor's report.
The Mitchell School Board's next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9 at Mitchell Middle School.
Eric Kaufman joined The Mitchell Republic in July 2019 as an education and features reporter. He grew up in Freeman, South Dakota, and graduated from Freeman High School. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1999 with a major in English and a minor in computer science. He can be reached at ekaufman@mitchellrepublic.com.