The Education Financial Situation Is Precarious

• Our district is at a disadvantage because the absence of State financial support places a higher burden on county taxpayers. Custer County will need to decide whether to institute a sales tax to offset property tax income for schools.
• This is not a time to take on additional expenses. The federal government (with congressional approval) is disbanding the Department of Education and this financial support is less clear and reliable. The Department of Education and other departments are stopping educational grants, and there will likely be a disjointed transition to the State taking on these additional responsibilities. The State is contributing less financially to school districts and is not keeping up with inflation. Staff benefits continue to be much more costly. Our tight budget is resulting in reducing our staff.
• Our teachers are underpaid relative to other states and South Dakota’s target teacher compensation package. A pay increase should be a priority for the Board once the financial picture becomes more clear and predictable.
• Public schools are underfunded. These funds should not be used for educational vouchers. If the State eventually approves a voucher system then the State has a right to some oversight in verifying the use of the voucher money and the student’s progress.

Other Positions

• As a board we should have high expectations for ourselves, staff and students. We all need to give our best effort.
• We need to attract, hire, train and retain the best staff we can.
• The board is a team and one of my first goals will be to become an informed team player. We will have differing opinions but share a common goal of working toward exhibiting group wisdom in improving our educational experience for students. The board should continue to seek feedback from teachers, parents and students to determine needs and guide decision making.
• When searching for answers to questions it is important to see what the research and data on a certain subject can tell us to help guide our decision making.
• School needs to help students identify and address the risks and benefits of social media and artificial intelligence.
• The quality of our schooling is serious business, but school should mostly be enjoyable for students and teachers.
• It is important to have effective communication between parents, school staff and students. Listening to each other is perhaps the most important aspect of communication.
• We are going through a period of time in which too many people are under attack and not treated respectfully. We need to treat our students, teachers and parents well.
• Parents’ rights have always been central to education. Parents have the right to choose the schooling their child attends. There are also the options to open–enroll in another public school district, attend a church-supported school or homeschooling.
• This is a time of some fear on the part of parents and teachers. Parents want their children treated well at school. School is not a place for indoctrination of students toward a certain ideology or gender identity. Related to this, teachers should not have to worry excessively about what they can say to students.
• Home schooling can certainly be done very well by some parents. CSD should be aware of the needs of Custer County home schoolers and provide some support to them. Home schooled students can access some classes and extracurricular activities at CSD. The Board needs to learn why parents choose homeschooling over the public schools.
• There should be separation of religion and school. For example, I am opposed to posting the Ten Commandments in our schools as proposed in the 2025 legislative session. This would be a precedent that can lead to future complications, such as other religions wanting equal expression.
• We need to teach students to be critical thinkers. Students need to be given all sides of an issue, and form their own opinions. They should learn to consider different perspectives, seek evidence for what they conclude and question authority.
• School is an uncomfortable place for some students and they deserve our extra effort to make school a better place for them. I have an extra interest in students that are at risk of not graduating, have learning or social difficulties, or dislike school.
• People are naturally diverse and we should find ways to educate students based on their uniqueness of learning and personality. We all want to be included and school should provide inclusion.
• Our schools should support students so that personal or family stressors interfere less with learning. Counseling services should expand beyond career and academic planning. Students also need to learn social, coping and emotional regulation skills as these are very related to being successful students and fully functioning and employable adults. Doing this does not necessarily have to result in additional staffing.