On the 37th legislative day of the 89th legislative session, members of the House and Senate passed the state’s $4.3 billion general fund bill (Senate Bill 187) for fiscal year 2015. Among the many things the budget includes is a 3.35 percent increase in state aid to education, which was approved by members of …
A lot of the talk in Pierre throughout session revolved around legislators doing something above the three percent increase to state aid for schools proposed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard. On Friday, Joint Appropriators backed that sentiment by approving an amendment providing an approximately 3.35 percent increase – for $2.2 million total – to state …
Appropriators pass 3.35 percent increase proposal Read More »
The discussion about the levels of school district general fund balances has subtly reemerged in the Capitol building during the home stretch of legislative session. During Friday’s Joint Appropriations committee hearing for Senate Bill 187 – the state’s general fund bill – Rep. Susan Wismer addressed the topic. “We are taking a snapshot …
An amendment that would have provided schools with a 3.4 percent increase in state aid was killed by the Joint Appropriations committee on Friday. On a 14-4 vote, committee members defeated the proposed amendment to Senate Bill 187, which is the general fund bill. Appropriators are putting the finishing touches on the general fund …
Two amendments introduced to the general fund bill that called for the per-student allocation to be set at $4,805 for the 2014-15 school year were defeated by the Joint Appropriations committee on Friday. Both amendments died on 14-4 votes, with one being tabled without discussion. Rep. Susan Wismer, who introduced one of the …
It was a bit anticlimactic in appropriations on Thursday, so far as school funding was concerned. Members of the Joint Appropriations committee met for a little over an hour and covered just over a 1/3 of the funding amendments submitted for Senate Bill 187, which is the general fund bill for Fiscal Year 2015. …
School funding not discussed on day one of budget debate Read More »
It took a conference committee to bring both legislative chambers to a compromise on a bill intricately linked to providing school districts with the proposed three percent funding increase, but alas, it’s headed to Gov. Dennis Daugaard. Senate Bill 158 saw various iterations on its way through both the House and Senate, but a …
A bill revising the number of school term hours for some elementary students is headed to Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s desk. Senators (35-0) and Representatives (69-0) concurred on an amended version of House Bill 1249. The bill includes the fourth and fifth grades in the 875-hours of classroom time already required for kindergarten through …
The adage, “no bill is dead until session is over,” added another example on Tuesday. Just hours after voting (17-18) to kill House Bill 1164, which lowers the number of signatures needed to refer a school board’s start day decision, Senators approved intent to reconsider on the bill and passed an amended version of …
Members of the House of Representatives voted 48-20 to support a bill that would change the suspension provisions for students participating in extracurricular activities who have been convicted of a drug related offense. “We should be encouraging kids to participate (in extracurricular activities) rather than prohibiting them to do so,” Rep. Kris Langer said …
Associated School Boards of South Dakota is a private, non-profit organization representing more than 850 local school board members, the school districts they govern and the students they serve.