Seventy-six delegates approved ASBSD’s legislative direction for the upcoming session recently.

 

Delegates ratified 28 resolutions and 11 standing positions, which set the legislative path for the 2018 legislative session, at ASBSD’s Delegate Assembly.

 

Click here to review the resolutions and click here to review the standing positions.

 

“Our work as school boards is never finished and we must take the lead on many fronts to ensure our schools continue to thrive in order to provide a great education for the students of South Dakota,” ASBSD President and Sioux Falls School Board Member Todd Thoelke said.

 

 

Delegates also approved ASBSD’s Advocacy Priorities, which is comprised of four resolutions the Association will focus on during legislative session. Those priorities include:

• Students Receiving Alternative Instruction (Home School Instruction);
• School Funding;
• Sales Tax Revenue;
• Repurposing Federal Funding for School Choice Expansion.

 

 

“As school board members, you are local governance leaders in your community and at the state level,” Thoelke said.

 

“Your leadership ability, along with your decision to partner with ASBSD, has pushed public education forward in South Dakota.”

 

Finally, Delegates approved a change to ASBSD’s Constitution and By-laws relating to the appointment of a school board member to a vacant ASBSD Board of Director’s position.

 

Download the amended language here.

 

 

Should a member of the ASBSD Board cease to serve on their local school board, thus vacating their spot on the ASBSD Board, ASBSD’s President will first seek to appoint a school board member from a member district in the region and enrollment category of the vacancy.

 

If no board member meeting those criteria accepts appointment, the President will appoint a school board member on an at-large basis from the same region in which there is a vacancy.

 

The appointed school board member shall serve the duration of the vacant Director’s term. School board members from the same school board cannot serve on the ASBSD Board of Directors simultaneously.

 

 

With ASBSD’s legislative platform in place, it’s time for local school district leaders and the Association to turn our attention to the 2018 legislative session, where we’ll need a strong advocacy partnership to accomplish what we set out to do during session.

 

“When an issue – whether good or bad for public education – arises, we must be at the forefront of the conversation,” Thoelke told delegates.

 

“We cannot sit back and let an issue be sorted out by other state leaders, we must continue to advocate to them, as well as our local constituents, about how it will affect our students and schools.”

 

 

Helping lead those important conversations on public education is ASBSD’s Legislative Action Network and it is vital for your district to appoint a member. During session, ASBSD will periodically request LAN members contact their state legislators and communicate the legislative stance of ASBSD and their local school district.

 

Download the LAN appointment form here.

 

During session you can stay up-to-date on all that occurs through the ASBSD Blog, Twitter feed and Bill Tracker.