Elementary principal to leave at end of school year

Flandreau Principal Jay Swatek spends noon hours keeping order in the lunchroom, helping students with trays and wiping tables.
It’s not the only time he sees students and teachers, but it’s one of the most visible.
It’s those students and their families, along with the teaching staff, that Swatek will miss most when he leaves at the end of the school year to take a job as an elementary principal in the Tea Area School District.
Swatek, who is in his third year in Flandreau, resigned at the Feb. 11 board meeting.
“It’s been a great position. It’s a great place to work,” he said of Flandreau. “The most enjoyable thing is the students and the families I’ve gotten to know and work with.”
He also commended the teaching staff in Flandreau. “They are committed to their profession and committed to doing what’s right for the kids.”
Swatek, 44, said he is leaving for financial reasons. “A bigger district has an opportunity to pay more. I’m going to have more students under my watch,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy decision. What it comes down to is a pretty significant increase in salary.”
Swatek, whose first principal job was in Flandreau, said after three years, he has enjoyed seeing how programs he has been a part of are playing out and would have liked to continue to follow through with changes and new ideas. “I definitely will miss this.”
During his time at the school, he has implemented standardized testing that provides more individualized results for students and has been a part of a change that allows teachers to work more collaboratively to share ideas on strategies that may help others.

Swatek brought new ideas when it comes to looking at test scores and other changes, said Superintendent Rick Weber.
“He has always been a positive influence on our students and staff,” he said.
Flandreau’s administration will take applications for his position through March 15, and administration and school board members will interview candidates, Weber said.
In Tea, where the district is adding a third elementary school, Swatek will be one of three principals at that level and will oversee one elementary building. The district has about 1,000 elementary children.
Swatek will continue to live in Garretson and will commute to Tea. He and his wife have two children, a freshman and a seventh grader.
Before coming to Flandreau, Swatek spent two years as an assistant principal and activities director at West Central. The Wagner native also taught elementary school for 11 years after graduating from Dakota Wesleyan University with a teaching certificate. He also has a master’s degree in administration from the University of Sioux Falls.
He will complete his job in Flandreau 10 days after the last day of school and will start July 1 in Tea.
In other school business…
•Instead of hosting parent-teacher conferences this semester, staff members will contact parents individually by phone or email, Weber said. Face-to-face meetings will be available if parents want.
Parent-teacher conferences planned for Feb. 7-8 were cancelled because of bad weather. Flandreau students also have missed six additional days of school because of cold and snowy weather. District policy is to make those days up at the end of the year, but the school board has not discussed what will happen this year with snow days.
•The board approved Feb. 25 and April 5 as in-service days for teachers to analyze test data. There will be no school those days.
•The Angel Fund committee will include board members Kari Burggraff, Jamie Hemmer and Kelly Kontz and staff members Brenda Whipkey and Stacey Van Beek.
The fund is made up of donations and helps students with breakfast and lunch expenses in emergencies or hardships. Previously, the fund was administered by business manager Lisa Sanderson who has recently retired.
•The board approved the use of the school for after-prom activities and waived the gym rental fee for Cross Trainers to put on dodge ball games with law enforcement playing high school students on March 8. The board also approved the Flandreau Indian School to use the football field for games when it is not used by the public school. FIS would pay a rental fee of $600 and custodial fees.
•Travis Ahrens will teach Driver’s Education and will be paid $22 an hour. Dates for the instruction are tentatively May 28 to June 6. Students will pay $240 for the class.
•The board hired Brittany Schander as a driver for special education and as a classroom paraprofessional. She will be paid $10.85 an hour.
•The district’s students donated about 3400 items to the Bread Basket for a Souper Bowl event earlier this month.