At their August meeting, members of the ASBSD Board of Directors approved amendments, additions and deletions to the Association’s legislative resolutions and standing positions, which were recommended by the ASBSD Policy and Resolutions Committee.
The resolutions and standing positions set the legislative direction of ASBSD and are set to be voted on by member districts at this year’s Delegate Assembly, taking place on Friday, November 17.
Be sure to appoint and submit the name of the board member that will be serving as your district’s delegate this year.
Below you will find a review of each change made to a resolution or standing position and draft form PDF’s can be found on the Publications and Forms page.
Resolutions (click to view PDF):
A1. Preschool Standards – recommend amendment
Within the title, resolution and rationale changed pre-kindergarten to preschool to conform to common terminology.
(NEW) A2. State Funded Preschool – recommend adopt
ASBSD supports the concept of voluntary, state funded preschool programs for school districts to utilize so long as the funding for the preschool programs would be in addition to the current education funding model and would not be taken from state funding.
A3. Professional Development – recommend amendment
Amendments emphasize need for full funding of any professional development mandates.
A7. School Employee Compensation – recommend amendment
Rationale amended to focus on the financial commitment needed for districts to recruit and retain their school employees.
B1. Students Receiving Alternative Instruction (Home School Instruction) – recommend amendment
A statement was added in the resolution and rationale in support of local school boards determining the criteria for allowing students receiving alternative instruction to participate in extra and co-curricular activities.
B9. Four-day School Week Referral – recommend delete
Resolution is no longer needed due to legislation being defeated during the 2017 legislative session.
B10. Conflict of Interest – recommend delete
Resolution is no longer needed as legislation passed in 2017 clarified the conflict of interest law.
C1. School Funding – recommend amendment
Amendments made to rationale update the language to conform with the funding statutes.
C2. Education Service Agencies – recommend delete
Resolution is no longer needed because legislation passed in 2017 repealed provisions in state law related to education service agencies.
D1. Sales Tax Revenue – recommend amendment
Rationale updated to reference statutes related to state funding instead of bill numbers.
F1. State Education Mandates – recommend amendment
The use of “new” before mandates is deleted to emphasize all state mandates should be fully funded.
(NEW) G5. Repurposing Federal Funding for School Choice Expansion – recommend adopt
The resolution stresses the belief that federal funding for specific education programs should not be repurposed to expand school choice options.
Standing Positions (click to view PDF):
Open Government and Transparency – recommend amendment
At the end of the standing position added: ASBSD supports full disclosure of conflicts of interest as prescribed by law (reference SDCL 3-23-6 through 3-23-9). The addition references the disclosure requirements added to the conflict of interest law.
Investment in Education – recommend amendment
Deletion in third paragraph condenses the sentiment to focus on all public education programs.
Paragraph added at end of position, stating: South Dakota’s Constitution prescribes the commitment to public education in Article 8, Section 1; “The stability of a republican form of government depending on the morality and intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature to establish and maintain a general and uniform system of public schools wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all; and to adopt all suitable means to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education.”
Addition made to highlight the commitment to public education made within the state’s constitution.
If you have questions about the updates made to ASBSD’s resolutions and standing positions or about Delegate Assembly, please contact Tyler at tpickner@asbsd.org or at 605-773-8382 or 605-881-3791.