FLANDREAU — Teacher. Activities Director. Superintendent. In his 35 years with the Flandreau School District, Rick Weber has done all of that — but now, with retirement beckoning, the superintendent attended to one final task on June 9: his final school board meeting.
“Today is a bittersweet moment as we hold our final school board meeting with Mr. Weber,” School Board President Kari Burggraff said. “It’s hard to put into words the impact he has had on Flandreau Public Schools. For 35 years Rick has been a steady hand and guiding light and a source of wisdom and strength for everyone in our school community.”
She pointed to, among other things, Weber’s dedication and compassion since joining the district in 1990.
“From the early days of his career to this very moment, he has led with integrity, compassion and an unwavering commitment to excellence,” she said. “Rick has guided the school through times of change, growth and challenge — always with grace and determination, whether it was supporting staff, mentoring new leaders or ensuring that every detail behind the scenes ran smoothly. His dedication never wavered.
“As you step into this new chapter of life, one filled with well-deserved rest, new adventures and hopefully a lot less emails” — chuckles filled the room at this point — “know that you leave behind a lasting imprint. On behalf of everyone here, thank you for the incredible 35 years that you’ve given to Flandreau Public Schools. We wish you joy, health and fulfillment in the journey ahead. Congratulations on your retirement.”
The recognition moved Weber.
“Well, thank you very much. It’s been my pleasure, and it might be the first board meeting I’ve ever had that I cried,” he said as laughter broke out, adding, “Well, actually I should say tears of joy.” More laughter erupted. “So, thank you. Like I said, it’s been my pleasure to work with this community for 35 years.”
Weber will be replaced by Highmore-Harrold Superintendent Quinton Cermak on July 1.
After honoring Weber, the board — with six of its seven members present — attended to more mundane matters, including hearing reports from school personnel:

• Elementary School Principal Baylee Hemmer reported that the district has learned that it’s eligible for up to $1.2 million over four years via the Elevating Literacy Grant, which is sponsored by the South Dakota Department of Education.
It’s a competitive grant aimed at bolstering literacy across the state. She said the district has completed a grant application and budget proposal and submitted it, and hopes to hear back in August on whether or not funds will be awarded.
In his superintendent’s report, Weber noted that:
• Educator Scott Headrick was asked to serve on the South Dakota Digital Technology Standards Revision Team, which met virtually on June 9-11.
He was also invited to co-present a session on the K–8 computer science standards at the K–12 Educator Cyber Camp at Dakota State University, set for June 16-20.
• Twelve teachers participated in a writing workshop at the school on May 28-30. Their work will inform a new writing handbook for teachers at the elementary level.
• Fifteen FPS teachers and administrators attended the state literacy conference on June 2-3 in Sioux Falls. Attendees learned about best practices in literacy from leaders in the field across the country.
• From June 10 through June 12, Stephanie Higdon with Circles Alliance led professional development in mathematics for 20 participants in K-12.
Following the reports, board members continued discussions on the district’s proposed general fund budget for the coming year. The board also chose, via voice vote, to back Ryan Rollinger for the East River at-large representative position on the board of directors for the South Dakota High School Activities Association. Lastly, the board gave its blessing, again via voice vote, to the special education comprehensive plan.
The district’s capital outlay budget plan — with $2,033,737 available — was given the green light by board members as well. Some discussion also came up, including:
• Maintenance work that’s being done on the sound system in the high school gym, which is priced at $30,000. Weber said the speakers are good for the system that’s on the stage, but that the “guts” of it are going to be replaced with all-new components.
• A board member asked about vape detectors, priced at $12,000 for 10 units, planned for the district. They’re all new, and Weber said they’ve been trying one for the last month — and that it works very well.
• Just what is a Turf Tank? That question came up from a board member, and Weber explained it along these lines: It’s a robotic, GPS-enabled machine that paints the field for football and track purposes.
Weber said it will save not only a lot of paint, but employee time as well since using a Turf Tank is far more efficient than painting those fields via other methods. The upfront cost is priced at $10,000, with an ongoing annual subsequent cost of $8,000.
• A question regarding the roof on the high school gym surfaced as well, with Weber saying the project was set to start June 23, and would likely take several weeks to complete.
(Editor’s note: We’ll have more on the retiring Rick Weber in next week’s Moody County Enterprise.)