Work has started on meeting the strategic goals of the Flandreau School Board.
At its Oct. 9 meeting, board members reported on their first committee meetings entrusted to eventually meet those goals. The committees each include one board member, an administrator, teachers and classified staff.
Kari Burggraff said the communications committee discussed how to get the community channel working on the cable TV system.
Matt Lacey said the policies and procedures committee’s first subject was the attendance policy.
“That’s the policy we dove into first,” Lacey said.
The committee also discussed the dress code and the cell phone policy.
For the staff retention committee, keeping more teachers in the district boiled down to better insurance and higher wages.
Brian Johnson said the committee also discussed longevity pay.
“Longevity pay doesn’t seem to be much,” Johnson said. He noted that committee members discussed using an extra personal day as a form of longevity compensation.
The academic programs committee started by looking at ways to help older students prepare for college, according to board member Tricia LeBrun.
The school pride committee discussed more ways to get school news into the newspaper, according to board member Kelly Kontz. The committee discussed the possibility of student and teacher spotlight features in the newspaper and the willingness of the yearbook staff to provide photos.
Kontz said the committee also discussed ways to get better attendance at athletic events.
Tom Stenger said he missed the first meeting of the professional development committee but he hopes to have a survey for teachers at the end of the year.
“My main concern was to get feedback on what’s helping in the classroom and what’s a waste of time,” Stenger said. He said the survey would ask, “Does it work like they said it’s going to?”
Each board member reported that their committees will continue to meet in October.
