2016 Legislative Session

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2016 Legislative Session

Reserve fund timeline extension bill cut short

A bill that would have extended the timeline for a district to spend down their reserves spent its last day in the legislature on Thursday (3/2).   House Appropriations committee members voted 6-2 against Senate Bill 92, which changes the year a school district is required to bring general fund reserves down to a certain …

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SafeSchools Newsletter’s March edition

The latest edition of the SafeSchools’ School Safety Newsletter is available.   Give March’s School Safety Matters newsletter a read here.   2017’s third edition of the newsletter provides information on the update to SafeSchools’ website, the youth suicide awareness and prevention course, budget tips for safety costs and much more.     ASBSD and SafeSchools have partnered to bring all member …

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Bill limiting school board advocacy resources passes comm.

School board members representing South Dakota’s public districts could see limitations to their advocacy efforts that other elected officials throughout the state do not have placed on them.   Senate Education committee members voted 4-2 to pass an amended version of Senate Bill 134, which would prohibit the use of public school resources to advocate …

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Rev. projections pose possible problem for proposed funding increase

South Dakota’s revenue projections point to possible trouble for schools to maintain the proposed one percent increase in funding for next year.   Legislative appropriators adopted revenue projections coming in at $27.7 million less than what was proposed during December’s budget address. The main culprit of the reduction in revenue was the state’s sales and …

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Collective Bargaining Seminars set to explain latest on negotiations

ASBSD will host one more Collective Bargaining Seminar in March to update school board members and administrators on the many facets of negotiations process for teachers and staff in 2017.   The remaining 2017 Collective Bargaining Seminar will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on:   It will cover how districts must apply the funding …

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Dyslexia policy bill passed by comm

An amended version of a bill adding support for dyslexic – and similarly learning disabled – students passed its first legislative committee.   On a 13-2 vote, House Education committee members supported House Bill 1133, which requires a school district to adopt a policy to provide for students with specific learning disabilities, including dyslexia.   …

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Bill updating COI law passed by committee

Conflict of interest law is in line for an update following a legislative committee’s approval of new bill.   House Judiciary committee members unanimously passed House Bill 1170, which amends the conflict of interest disclosure law, on Monday (2/13).   ASBSD supports the bill and was an integral part in the development of new provisions …

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No transparency for tax credit scholarship program

The right for taxpayers to review who was donating would be tax dollars to a private school scholarship program was denied on Wednesday.   On a 10-5 vote, House Education members defeated House Bill 1125, which permits transparency for the public to see certain information relating to the partners in education tax credit program.   …

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Bill triggering sales tax reduction defeated

An attempt to trigger a process to reduce the half-cent sales tax increase implemented last year was defeated by a legislative committee on Tuesday (2/7).   On a 9-5 vote, members of the House Taxation committee opposed House Bill 1131, which triggers reduction process of sales tax based on collection and remission of sales tax …

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Restricted bathroom access bill withdrawn

For now, the debate about a state policy restricting access for transgender students to school bathrooms, locker rooms and other changing facilities has stopped.   At Tuesday’s Senate Education committee meeting, Sen. Jim Bolin, the committee chair, announced Senate Bill 115, which called for restricted access to certain locker rooms, shower rooms and changing facilities …

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