001okay call the meeting to order please rise and join us with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay good evening everybody can I get a motion um in a second to approve the minutes of the meetings held on April 5th and April 11th please second all those in favor signify by saying aye aye aye opposed same sign that motion passes we have one person person wishing to address the board on a non-agenda item um Chad Bishop you'd come and state your name and address and you have five minutes foreign good afternoon my name is Chad Bishop I live at 7405 South Valencia Drive here in Sioux
002Falls on April 13th The Argus Leader published an article entitled Sioux Falls Area superintendent's talk social studies standards school safety and growth I recommend everyone go read it quoting from a portion of this article beginning with a subheading political extremism extremism has vilified some aspects of Education some words used in the school district settings such as Equity have become trigger words when they're meant to be well-intentioned things stavum said we've been vilified sometimes for using the word equity which for our district means having some the same opportunities available at one high school as you do in another stay home explained let me pause there for a second vilify is defined as to speak or write about in an abusively disparaging manner the article continues she said she's received questions from constituents on the district's use
003of equity as a term even in budget line items like Equity travel which is the money the district can use to help groups pay for transportation for example if they hadn't fundraise enough money to make it to an event one constituent had made it out to be a very Sinister sounding thing she said unfortunately we've taken some things and taken them to extremes Stephen said I think that's one thing that the school districts Across the Nation are suffering from right now is the political extremism has vilified some things that are intended to do what we want in terms of how do we treat kids how do we honor differences in our community and our family whether it be by race gender or any of those kind of things so I agree political extremism is a
004problem when I asked this body what it meant when it used the words equity it is because we see it used everywhere to the Minneapolis School District it means they will lay off teachers based on the color of their skin regardless of seniority I was brought up to understand this is overtly racist I don't want racist policies here in Sioux Falls but in Minneapolis they call it Equity so I asked the question in higher education at Stanford law school a couple weeks ago we saw fifth Circuit Judge or U.S court of appeals judge Kyle Duncan who was invited by students to speak denied his ability to speak by a dean of diversity equity and inclusion the old school classical liberal in me sees both of these examples as regressive and illiberal if you're embracing diversity
005equity and inclusion like that how long will it be before you deny me free speech or the right to petition my government so I ask you what you mean it was a genuine question I wanted a genuine answer on January 31st superintendent Statham and president serenbence were kind enough to meet with Amy Bruner and myself my notes from that meeting regarding the district's position on Equity reflects the following conversation I had offered a definition of equity and education to be a quality of outcomes I compared and contrasted that with a more traditional goal of equality of opportunity responding directly to that definition I had understood Dr Statham to say that she did not believe in equality of outcomes but inequality of opportunity offered genuine and wholehearted agreement and considered that question answered perhaps this was
006an error on my part I misunderstand things all the time but to repeat the quote from the article we've been vilified sometimes for using the word equity which in our district means having the same opportunities available at one high school as you do it as another words have meaning and definitions matter otherwise best case we end up misunderstanding one another in the worst case we end up with some kind of orwellian Newspeak thank goodness the National School Board Association and their Center for public education who knew when they weren't requesting the Department of Justice to pursue parents at school board meetings as domestic terrorists they actually publish some readable material given that this body is a member of the associated school boards of South Dakota and it further Associates with the nspa I'm assuming their
007definitions will be acceptable [Music] educational Equity to find the word equality in their document in education is achieved when students are all treated the same and have the access to similar resources Equity is achieved when all students receive the resources they need so that they graduate prepared for Success After High School these are very different things please forgive me but it seems the definition for Equity given by The Argus article quoting Dr Statham would match the definition for equality as defined by the nspa perhaps the journalist misquoted Dr stavum if not can we agree here and now that the district policy is one of a quality of opportunity as stated in the article and not equity then I propose this body move to strike the word Equity from every administrative policy thank you for the
008opportunity to help resolve this misunderstanding all right we do not have a wishing to address the school board on our will we on agenda items so move on to item six approval of the agenda can I get a motion in a second please so moved second all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed same sign that motion passes and on to the good news report a second in CDN so Becky yes uh Rhonda and I are Deanne this evening Rhonda itings would you mind joining me up here oh thank you good evening Rhonda eddings our subdesk coordinator and I are here this evening to recognize the extraordinary dedication of a few individuals with a lifetime of service to our students and perhaps some of the individuals in our audience May recognize these people
009as part of the district's staff Excellence priority the HR department expanded the employee recognition program to include Milestone years of service recognition at year one and then at every five years our substitute teachers are part of this Milestone recognition program these Milestone recognition receivers are found up on your on the screen we are very fortunate to have three dedicated staff members here this evening representing our 700 substitute teacher staff members so when I call your name if you could please indulge us and come up to receive our token of appreciation the first is Craig Eklund [Applause] Craig has 30 years of experience with the Sioux Falls School District um he's worn the Hat a substitute teacher education assistant and teacher and I'm sure many others in between them Craig thank you very very much for
010your service [Applause] our next subsidized is Diane Ron Diane please come forward [Applause] Diane has been with us for 35 years and I'm sure you could write the book on substitute teaching couldn't you [Applause] we have Mary ethelund we are recognizing Mary for 45 years with the district 34 as a teacher and then 11 more as a substitute teacher [Applause] honorees thank you for your time this evening it is truly our honor to recognize you and as we often say to our substitute staff we couldn't have school without you thank you [Applause] thank you Becky and thank you all for your service to the school district all these years we so appreciate what you provide for our students every day thank you all right moving on we don't have any conflicts of interest or was
011it we part two oh part two sorry good evening my name is Boyd Perkins and I'm the coordinator of Fine Arts in the Sioux Falls schools I have two really terrific items to report tonight and first of all what we'll go through I want to recognize some teachers and some students for a job well done we're going to look at some of the results of our state art contests which happened in March and I think you'll be very impressed with what happened with that we also have a music program award that I'll get to on our final slide so without with great excitement I'm going to bring forward here some of the awards we've received in our fine arts program recently so in March we had the state Fine Arts Gallery which is sponsored by
012the South Dakota High School Activities Association that runs at the same time as the State basketball tournament in Rapid City as you can see up on the awards up on the screen our awards were pretty impressive by the Sioux Falls schools our our team Awards in that we replace receive first place second place third place and fifth place by all four of our schools which is a very exciting for our teachers and for our students and we have some teachers and students here tonight I'd like to recognize them thank you everybody yeah [Applause] can we stand up so we can see you I actually don't know how many we have here tonight but we do have some yeah okay great [Applause] we've just had a lot of amazing things happening in our art Department this
013year I want to First recognize I'm going to go ahead and go through these relatively quickly but you can see there are 12 categories in the art area we have teachers at Jefferson High School we have Jackie bilke Brittany carmony Holly Greg and Jared Holstein and our students who competed in the State art show are all listed up there and they have even if they don't place it takes a very big commitment just to get a piece ready and enter in that we have in monochromatic drawing Charlie Kolb who received first place in monochromatic drawing and Best in Show in class double A in color trial drawing we have Taylor Chesley who entered in the show and print making Emily J Johnson received third place in painting Claire buskul received first place in functional Pottery
014Charlie Taylor received first place watercolor Solera separi receives second place in crafts Carl meinberg received first place in photography Annelise De Jesus received second place mixed media Elvia Hagan received first place in traditional cultural art Paula cabezas Torres received fourth place in 3D sculpture Kalia Miller received fifth place in digital media graphic design Bailey buskool received first place and also in another event we had in our state art Wars Kalia Miller received the regional first place in that and that's all from Jefferson High School all right [Applause] we have the finest art program in the state of South Dakota and continuing on we will say at Roosevelt High School Al Costanza is a teacher Lisa dresch Mira medima Aaron Nguyen and Skyler Kidd are all the teachers we have at Roosevelt and in monochromatic drawing
015Lorelei hoving received third place color drawing leita cam beats received second place in print making Ashley Prince participated in painting jalea cam beats received second place in functional Pottery Ruby gray replies second place and watercoli Zuri Cleland received third place in crafts Sophia Talbot participated in photography Sam Schmidt in mixed media Kylie gosh in traditional Cultural Arts Sadie Hunter received third place and in 3D sculpture Alexandria Brenner received first place in a digital digital media and graphic design lyric Allen participated let's give those guys a round of applause so fun to recognize our artists they don't they don't always get a lot of public recognition because what they do is generally not a spectator sport but is individualized item so at Lincoln High School we have Travis Hinton Susan wagmeister and Sarah winterscheit as our
016art teachers and in monochromatic drawing we have Chloe Seaman receiving fourth place in color drawing we have Ella Ratliff in third place we have print making Ella Ratliff in second place in painting Chloe Seaman in fifth place functional Pottery Maisie Walder fourth place in watercolor Ella Ratliff first place in crafts we have azila Walpole and in photography azelo Walpole again in mixed media Jacqueline Picard fourth place traditional cultural art Emily Torgerson 3D sculpture Clara Carlson third place digital media and graphic design marineram participated and in another in other competitions we have Ella Ratliff who just recently won the Scholastic American Vision and voices award at the national level first place in the United States she will be going to Carnegie Hall to receive her award in June and also she won first place in another
017national competition The Stride K-12 National Art Award and that happened about a month and a half ago that stride K-12 is a company that specializes in online teaching and she also won a French competition the international main musical art contest first place for the second time in a row and she has numerous other pieces that are currently in competition around the country right now so like to recognize Ella Ratliff for her accomplishments on that as well [Applause] Molly Porter Potter excuse me and Matt Schult as the teachers in monochromatic drawing we have Emily stallberg drawing and colored is nairoti kauk in fourth place in print making Audrey vandervorst in painting narote as entering and functional Pottery rally kucera in watercolor Ashanti daldorf and crafts Emily stallberg photography edition Walt Van Wyatt mixed media Faye Russell
018in second place in traditional cultural art Audrey Van Vorst 3D sculpture Audrey Van Vorst again in fourth place and in digital media and graphic design we have Kaden Knutson with second place I have some photographs of some of the works and I'm just going to scroll through these we don't get a lot of time to look at them but I thought I would show you some of the examples that we have here they're very great to look at over when you have more time to look at them but this gives some of the recognition of some of the work that's happening some of our wonderful artists the one on the right is Best in Show and class double A black and white monochromatic some amazing works very proud of these artists that one on the
019left is about five feet by six feet when it's set up right in 3D which you can't really see on the video there's a first place watercolor on the left in third place next to it it's actually a dress that was designed and created on the right this is actually a digital that has animation but we do not have it on this video and that's it for our artwork that we have for our wonderful art students and last Thursday we received notifications at Sioux Falls Community at Sioux Falls School District and Community has been honored on the national level as a 2023 best communicate Community for music education and I have a press release a short press release that I will read that will give more information on this it's a national award and something
020we're very proud of and um really speaks highly to the level of teaching and support that's been going on in the Arts since and particularly music in Sioux Falls the School Sioux Falls school district has been honored with the best communities for music education designation from The NAMM foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education now in its 24th year the best communities for music education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement and efforts to provide music access and education to all students to qualify for the best communities designation the Sioux Falls School District answered detailed questions about funding graduation requirements music class participation instructional time facilities support for the music program and also community community music making programs such as the South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra responses were verified by school officials
021and reviewed by the music Research Institute at the University of Kansas just a slight bit about The NAMM Foundation The NAMM Foundation is a non-profit supported in part by the National Association of Music merchants and its 15 000 member companies and individual professionals the foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research philanthropic giving and public service programs we're very proud of our music programs and our art programs so that's what I have thank you very much [Applause] thank you very much Boyd appreciate that all right now moving on to item 8 on our agenda conflicts of interest we did not have any new ones this uh week or this meeting to look at um item nine approval of consent agenda can I get a motion and a second to
022accrue so moved second all those in favor signify by saying aye aye aye opposed same sign that motion passes moving on to supplemental consent agenda items to or approval of claims to Avera Health can I get a motion in a second please someone second all those in favor signify by saying aye aye opposed same sign that motion passes with one abstention from myself and then now on to items 10B approval of claims to Sanford can I get a motion in a second please summer second all those in favor signify by saying aye aye opposal sign that motion passes with one abstention from board member writer now moving on to the reports of the superintendent Dr Stephen two reports tonight the first is a world language in English language development adoption board report there's a mouthful
023there and we have some good information from Dr Boyson and then we'll turn it over to Todd B for the last budget hearing all right good evening I'm here to present the K-12 World language and English language development curriculum study report the purpose is to provide that information it follows in the area of academic success the world language in English language development curriculum study began in the fall of 2020 as a steering committee involving teachers administrators parents and community members met several times through the 2020 and 2021 school year to develop the Mission Vision goals to guide that curriculum study and they wrote their vision statement up on your screen and the mission statement and then we use the world letting Readiness standards for learning languages as a guide for those goals following the five
024c's with communication cultures connections comparisons and Community to guide that study and as we went through that we looked at middle school and we start there the seventh grade World languages exploration class is an encore class offered at each Middle School in this semester-long a b course schedule students explore four languages French German Spanish and the languages of the ocean the course is aligned to the South Dakota World Language standards and the purpose of the class is to identify lifelong benefits of learning another language spark an interest in continued language learning after seventh grade learn how to speak words and phrases in French German Spanish and oshede shockawain and gain a better understanding of other cultures in the world students in and that's our world languages exploration class and then we have the Spanish Immersion
025over at Edison for sixth seventh and eighth grade and students in Spanish Immersion take the Spanish language arts class in those grades and the courses are designed to support students listening speaking Reading Writing in Spanish and are aligned to the World Language standards and the actual proficiency guidelines these courses are also support the Spanish Immersion program goals for increasing by lingualism and biliteracy high academic achievement and social cultural competence and that's a Spanish language arts layer at the middle school level and then at both middle school and high school students learning English as a new language at the middle school and high school level take an English language development course offered at three levels emergent intermediate and advanced and these courses focus on increasing students English language skills and speaking listening reading and writing and
026the culture the curriculum provides a balanced approach to learning English through authentic literature informational text vocabulary development and systematic skills and grammar instruction aligned with the Wida 6 through 12 standards and so the World Language the Spanish language arts and the English language development teachers reviewed and piloted several resources throughout the study and the table on this slide in the previous slide outline the resources needed and the costs for the resources for seven year adoption for those World language courses when we continue that course study in high school and so high school learning a new language we have 29 courses in high school and so learning a new language allows students to communicate interact in a multilingual community in Sioux Falls and the world the Sioux Falls District offers various language courses to enable opportunities
027for all students and it's a graduation requirement a new exciting offering we added two years to the American Sign Language we expanded that to four semester so students can earn two World Language credits in a world language course offering we offer four years of French German and Latin four years of Spanish AP Spanish is awful also offered at high school level in addition to the Spanish course offering students in Spanish Immersion program may take Spanish Immersion language and culture AP Spanish and dual credit Capstone in in that course is a partnership with the USD the Sioux Falls district also offers Spanish for Spanish speakers this is a course designed for Heritage Spanish speakers and students in the Spanish Immersion program teachers reviewed the state and World Apple standards again at the high school level to
028ensure that our English language development courses meet those standards here's some more courses at the high school level the World Language and ELD teachers reviewed and piloted several textbook companies and resources throughout the study and again this table lists those resources and the cost for seven years of implementation for those 29 courses I'm going to skip forward first and so throughout the study that two-year study we start with a steering committee and then the levels work into their their curriculum committees we had 86 different individuals on all those committees reviewing curriculum implementing that curriculum and making recommendations and so there's a list of all those involved and so the total cost of the curriculum adoption is listed here below we identified that as Middle School World Language and Spanish Immersion language arts that's the middle
029the first line and then middle school and high school English language development courses broken out separately and then the high school World language for the 29 different courses and so the Middle School and high school instructional sub-level committees under the guidance of the world language and English language development steering committee developed a curriculum to speak read write and listen to another language professional development is also included in this because no adoption isn't is complete without that professional learning that goes along with that and with that I'd stand by for any questions and ask for approval of the English the world language and English language development curriculum adoption thank you um how many students uh obviously when you Encore in seventh grade there's quite a few right and so forth but how many students in our
030district are taking yes great question so 6 000 annually and that is at middle school about 1500 we have 1200 ELD so that English language development and required from the federal government that that language is supported and then at the high school level we have 3 200 right there so about six thousand annually take the opportunity to explore Another World Language that's great lots of opportunities there any other questions for Dr Boyson okay I'm gonna get a motion and a second to approve the world language as an English language development adoption so moved second all those in favor signify by saying aye aye opposed same sign that motion passes thank you thank you thank you the school board began its budget process in November uh last year at which time the board adopted guidelines and
031timelines between December and February 19 subcommittees comprised of administration professional and classified staff and Community individuals develop program budgets which were then presented to the budget Review Committee in March the budget Review Committee included two board members and represent representation from the subcommittees including teachers and administrators the committee met on March 16th to develop budget recommendations for the full board those recommendations match the recommendations of each of the budget subcommittees since then the board has held two Workshop work sessions they were on April 5th and April 11th the budget presented to the board is still being heavily influenced by the coveted pandemic that hit in the final quarter of FY 20. the focus has gone from facilities health remote learning virtual learning and sanitization and social distancing in the early stages to instruction Extended Learning
032special education filling gaps in learning and raising staff salaries to keep up with a spike in inflation over the past two years for the third year in a row the board has committed to significantly increasing the starting teacher salary from under 38 000 per year three years ago to over 51 000 in FY 24. between that increase and the regular salary increase tied to the tied closely to the formula teacher salaries are slated to go up about 6.75 next year The Five-Year general fund plan slightly increases fund balance by 1.5 million in FY 24 which includes a 4.25 million dollar transfer from the capital alley fund this is in preparation for an fy25 loss of 8.3 million dollars in Esser funding that is currently supporting ongoing general fund expenditures the projected fund balance in Foy
03328 is about 7.6 changes in the budget that were presented on April 11 include a slight increase in the special ed fund of 62 000 in Psych Services it just matches the level four which was which was put in there um the the two just didn't match up and then also there was one small change in the Enterprise funds where the benefits figured didn't didn't click at thirty three thousand dollars so it didn't match the the total benefit page on are the total expenditure page on 51 to uh changes just to get the two different figures to match up in summary the tax supported budget that's the general Ed special ed Capital alley and bond Redemption funds they're increasing 300 are the total is 326 million dollars um our recommendation to the school board is
034to acknowledge the public hearing that we're about to have and then tentatively approve the FY 24 School District budget to allow human resources to offer employee contracts with the understanding that the budget we brought forward for final adoption and certification of levies at the annual meeting held July 10 2023. any questions for Todd we will open it up to public hearing anyone wishing to address the board has three minutes still same name address yes please state your name and address please Anna looning 4601 South Deerfield Circle hello I'm Anna looning and I am finishing my junior year at Lincoln I joined Club Gymnastics when I was in fourth grade the summer going into seventh grade I decided to join the LHS gymnastics program I was welcomed with open arms from coach Les Coyne and the
035gymnast there at the time now be now me being a little seventh grader I didn't really have the confidence in and outside of class especially because Middle School is one of the most awkward times of Our Lives the opportunity given to me to be able to go to gymnastics after school and practice with the big high school girls greatly impacted my confidence inside and out the lesson sleepovers pep talks and just the time spent together made me feel welcome and loved the gym wasn't just for doing tricks and leaps but for bonding time between a senior and a little seventh grader teaching each other about gymnastics but also about important things such as school manners worth love and the importance of family since we are one the removal of gymnastics means no source for girls
036to show up and bring their talents strengths and personalities to the plate having the opportunity to do gymnastics gives young women the most important lessons both physical and emotional while going through one of the most difficult and emotional times of our teenage years in school we're taught to see both sides of a conflict and use communication to resolve conflict the gymnasts are really confused on why this amazing program needs to be cut I've heard many reasons finances numbers Etc but the gymnastics Community has rallied up and come with so many ways to fix those particular concerns but here we are once again still not knowing the exact reason why this someone wants this terminated whose idea started this where are these people and why aren't they speaking out what is their actual reason where is
037the communication that we are trying to use we are all being left in the dark with no direction at all and that is unacceptable what would it mean for this program to be eliminated well number one it would mean hundreds of young girls floundering their way through middle school and high school without a sport to belong to those translate into a lack of support from other women and potential sense of belonging which was me before joining High School number two the elimination of gymnastics will affect other sports as well most pole vaulters are gymnasts and if gymnastics will be here no more the amount of talented people joining track and being recruited to jump run or pole vault will go down causing less attendance in such activities creating a domino effect it won't just affect
038all gymnasts in the state of South Dakota but track and other sports as well that require the physical ability that us gymnasts possess just a heads up when the moment comes from my future daughter to be able to participate in gymnastics you bet the opportunity better be there for her and for all the young women out there aspiring to be like the women they look up to and I know I can say that all of the women you are looking at right now wants to be that Mom to be able to sit where our parents are now and wipe away a happy tear from our cheek as we watch our daughter shine on that floor thank you [Applause] anybody else see nobody else well okay oh yeah here we go hi Candy powder 4401 South
039Town Park Place in Sioux Falls I am the parent of a gymnast a junior who is a part of the Lincoln gymnastics team she is not here tonight because she is involved in other activities at Lincoln she had track practice followed by Color Guard auditions that are happening this week and then she plans on attending Mr LHS tonight as well this is a great example of why Club Gymnastics are not an option for her jessalyn joined the gymnastics team in seventh grade and has competed the past five years for Lincoln she also competed in that covid year 20 2021 when everything was awkward and difficult for kids you may wonder what I can say that you haven't already been told as people have talked about this program but I can just tell you how it's
040affected my daughter and the things that she's been able to do she's had a lot of opportunities by doing the high school gymnastics and not Club she's had the opportunity to represent her school doing a sport that she loves she's had the opportunity to participate in school activities like the marching band and color guard if you've seen someone doing tricks and flips in the Lincoln band that's her she's also a pole vault on the track team as Anna just alluded to as well and she's been able to use her gymnastics background in all of those areas she's also had the opportunity to attend other evening activities at Lincoln where she can support her friends and her classmates and their Endeavors as well she also has a part-time job and she takes challenging academic classes including
041two AP courses this year and also enjoy spending time with her friends and hanging out with them and if she was in club sports that would make all of those things more difficult all of these things and activities um are things that are expected of students when they start applying for colleges and scholarships those are things they look for well-rounded students they're that are involved in many activities both her father and I know that she has been fortunate to have the opportunities and experiences that she's had as part of the gymnastics program and we would love to see that continue for other students even though she's we'll have one year left we know there's other young women that would love to have those same experiences thank you [Applause] good afternoon my name is Eric Van
042Beek from 4500 South Yellowstone Lane um before I get started I want to mention Hannah talked about what it meant for her as a seventh grader to have those Juniors and seniors be Role Models she was that role model for my daughter this year it's a cyclical thing it's a really amazing program in that way so much more than just masses um I just wanted to touch base a little bit on the perspective of the meeting that was held by Dr Knoll at the LHS library on October 13th of last year I attended this meeting most of the discussion was regarding a solution not the problem most of the discussion was about whether or not the programs of Sioux Falls should be moved to All-American gymnastics the meeting featured an in-depth conversation from both Administration
043and parents about whether this would be helpful or hinder the program we felt like it would certainly not help the program the only practice options that were given us as high school gymnastics at all American were at 6 a.m or 7 30 pm asking middle school and high school student girls from all corners of Sioux Falls to drive one block short of Harrisburg at 5 30 in the morning in the winter is not a reasonable solution but this is besides my coin this meeting was never a two-way conversation looking for multiple ways to save the program Beyond The All-American gymnastics plan no other Solutions were ever discussed it was truly the admin reaching out it was never truly the admin reaching out to work together to save this program if it was that would have
044been the first meeting of many we left that meeting as parents and his supporters just wondering if the administration what they would decide for the future of the programs in Sioux Falls whether it be in Sioux Falls or it would be at all American almost two weeks later we were told that the programs were staying in the schools we were very happy about that this was the last time we heard from Administration about the program the season ended in February and in March we were told the program was being cut in the budget we were never told that if we didn't raise participation numbers the sport would be cut beyond that if you think about this the season started two weeks after we were told that the programs were staying in Sioux Falls two weeks
045later practices started two weeks after that was the first meet even if we were told we had to make a change what could we possibly have done in two weeks thank you [Applause] all right nobody my name is Ava Knutson I live at 5804 South laser Ridge Place I'm a senior at Lincoln High School I'm an academically ambitious senior at Lincoln High School and I have been a student in the Sioux Falls School District for 10 years since we moved to Sioux Falls I've been a gymnast on the high school team for six years I coach at Wings six days a week so I am speaking today on behalf of the Wings family I also took time off of work to be here tonight um I was I'm speaking today about the incoming participation numbers
046you'll be seeing in the years to come Alicia the owner of wings was a multi-sport athlete herself and a high school gymnast in Minnesota she loves High School gymnastics we love High School gymnastics at Wings she has been deeply involved in the process to add gymnastics to the Harrisburg School District and she continues to be involved as a volunteer or a paid assistant coach since the program started I know it can seem like lip service when I say that we have a club that supports High School gymnastics this is not something new or something that we started because of the potential loss of these programs it's what we've always done we however are only 11 years old and you're just starting to see the benefits we now have 70 kids in our team program and
047a 30 increase coming into that program next year this is happening because our kids are staying in the sport longer because they can compete for their school and we encourage it our club gymnasts at Wings workout low hours and are encouraged to compete in other sports they are allowed to take time off in the middle of their Club competitive season to compete for their high school at no cost and come back to Wings to finish out their Club season so that they don't have to choose one or the other until they are ready if they choose to do only high school we offer and Alicia personally coaches a class in the off season to keep them in shape for the next season the numbers are coming we had our first senior this year Rachel from
048Lincoln that started with us on our first competitive team of six kids you have another incoming senior next year Bree from Jefferson from that same team on top of that another competes for Harrisburg another is a level 10 gymnast at Wings who competed for Harrisburg as a middle schooler is a manager now and hopes to compete again for her senior year on the Harrisburg Team all from the same first team at Wings these kids have done competitive gymnastics for 10 years and they still love it because they have the opportunity to do it on their terms not the school board's terms they don't have to be in the gym 20 to 25 hours a week and they can do a sport they love at the level that they are we have continued to send a
049small amount of athletes ever since as our program has grown this year is the first year we will have seven to ten gymnasts taking advantage instead of one or taking advantage of this instead of one or two this is a trend that will continue because our competitive program has grown very quickly over the last few years we're starting our first team at Wings West Wings West opened just over a year ago because we outgrew our main location although this will take time to build it will only increase the interest in gymnastics on the west side of town to review the incoming participation commitment numbers collected sent to you in a prior email our Excel theater program commitments for fall of 23 to 24 will show an increase of 11 next year 15 new Total athletes
050all right thank you [Applause] thank Hawks 1010 East Sunrise place number 115 Sioux Falls uh to continue on there um uh the 15 new Total at total new athletes fall of 24-25 boosts the gymnastic participation by 16 with 13 new athletes that's minimum total of 28 new faces and a 28 increase in just two years Additionally the results from the previous survey were 191 families responded with 84 of these family indicating that their gymnasts will be participating in high school gymnastics in the years to come I want to point out that participation numbers in girls Athletics if you cut gymnastics not only will that decrease your total number in that sport you'll lose Athletics and fall in Spring Sports cheer dance track begin being the main recipients if these athletes go back to Club at
051that level that they are at it makes it hard to participate in those other School athletics I asked the board to oppose the budget as is and ask for the administration to rework the budget with gymnastics included we would also ask what magic participation numbers do you want what would you like that we have that info information we can help drive that outcome I can promise Wings will continue to be a great feeder and support to the high school gymnastics in Sioux Falls your numbers will only continue to grow I would be happy to advise and work with the district in any way that we can including offering our facility at Wings to no cost to the teams for camps and Clinics to raise funds as I already do for Harrisburg lastly I wanted to
052remind you that there are potential College opportunities for these athletes the acro and tumbling program alone being a great one kids rely on these scholarships the acro and tumbling program are is one of the fastest growing college sports right now and we have our very own D1 team here in Sioux Falls Acro and tumbling is a sport the recruits gymnasts and cheerleaders for gymnasts they do not need to be at such a high level of gymnastics this gives High School gymnast gymnast an opportunity to do a Collegiate D1 sport the head coach Coach K has recruited many members for her team from this area in hopes to continue we sent one Club athlete to the program for their inaugural season and have wings Harrisburg High School athletes sign for the next also one of your
053Lincoln gymnasts Blair will also be competing for Augie next season a D1 sport in the heart of Sioux Falls should be something to consider thank you [Applause] foreign good afternoon board members my name is Angie Allen my address is 312 East 20th Street I'm here to speak on behalf of the parent group working to save the sport of gymnastics in the Sioux Falls School District I am a former club and high school gymnast a parent of two youth gymnasts and a supporter of the great sport of gymnastics my youngest daughter is seven and I hope this program will be available to her when she is 17. as you can see behind me this is a family affair and support for the high school gymnastics program runs deep at the last school board meeting the superintendent
054stated to the school board members that they are being forced to make a tough decision due to budget restraints and participation numbers the superintendent said we are normally in the business of adding not cutting we took that message to heart and we were determined to lift this heavy burden off your shoulders and demonstrate that we have Solutions so you do not have to cut gymnastics and take this amazing sport away from these deserving young ladies the lack of transparency regarding the process to cut gymnastics has been unsettling the level of misinformation regarding The Narrative of the gymnastics program's history is alarming and to force young women to come before the board to beg to participate in the sport that they love is appalling the mismanagement of this process alone should be cause for halting the
055vote to cut the sport of gymnastics from the budget it feels like the decision to cut gymnastics was a solution looking for a problem that somehow it was predetermined the decision to cut gymnastics wasn't made because the team failed a set of metrics or missed achieving goals set forth by the administration because there never was a plan to help maintain the high school gymnastics program in education there's a plan and documentation for everything where is the plan where are the metrics what was the timeline set forth sadly we can't answer to these we can't get answers to these questions because there wasn't ever a plan or if there was it was not communicated it was a decision made by an undisclosed group of people without the input from the party being affected every time the
056question was asked what do you want to see happen the goal posts removed a carousel of moving targets one day it's about budget the next about equipment then participation who knows what metrics are being considered and which goals must be met in order to save High School gymnastics why wasn't it put on paper and once and for all let's set the structure the record straight on the narrative that gymnastics is in significant decline words stated by the assistant superintendent at the last board meeting since we met here on April 11th we reached out to the local gymnastics clubs for commitments on those participating in high school gymnastics program next fall the numbers reveal pledged commitments from at least 28 new gymnasts a county for graduating seniors there will be an 11 increase this fall a
05716 increase next year for an overall 28 increase for a two-year Outlook a 28 increase the sport of gymnastics and the Sioux Falls School District is not in significant decline it is in fact growing and you have the numbers and the commitments that will hopefully allow you to cast a fair and knowledgeable vote thank you [Applause] Jackie Erickson for 4400 South Mountain Ash Drive hello my name is Jackie Erickson and I'm currently a freshman at Lincoln High School I've been doing gymnastics at Wing since I was seven and just started competing a few years ago this past year I won all-around Champion for my age division at the state competition so I'm speaking with some Merit when I say how important this sport is to the young girls in it gymnastics has taken me through
058hell and back and I'm stronger for it whether it was losing teammates during due to injury and even one that passed away last year without it I would not be prepared for any other challenge life will end up throwing at me one of my friends on my team this year who was currently in seventh grade once asked my coach why are they cutting High School gymnastics anyway they said they have the money for it and they know kids are going to join once they're old enough my coach replied that she didn't know the people that are cutting it don't even have a very good reason a 12 year old asked that even a 12 year old can see how foolish all of this is so therefore I don't think we're the problem I think the
059problem is the people that are running the school district that are supposed to be running the school district with honesty and integrity but instead they're choosing the easy way out and cutting a sport that means so much to me and all the other girls in it thank you [Applause] thank you hello Amanda Nielsen 6521 West strabane Trail thank you for taking a minute and letting me address you I currently have a daughter who's in sixth grade who is lucky enough to participate in club sports and she really loves gymnastics she's moved from a level three last year all the way to a level six she is looking forward to competing in high school just like her older siblings did and excelling at a sport that she loves she has developed a community a family and
060skills that give her the things she needs to be successful and a good human I know that you have budgetary constraints I've seen that based on your approval I also saw that you approved nine thousand dollars for Latin I would like my daughter to be able to choose the things that make her happy and being able to choose to participate in a high school athletic sport is a lot different than being told no I hope that when you cast your boat you remember all of these discussions you remember all of the faces that have spoken to you and you make the best choice that you're capable for you as well as for the girls and the the boys that want to participate in the sport thank you [Applause] all right we will now close the
061hearing and we'll open it up for our discussion I'll start um each year the budget process gets a little trickier as we have to continue to balance the needs of so many in our community we are all passionate about different things but the biggest passion has to be educating all of our students the best that we can this includes hiring and retaining great teachers and support staff keeping buildings safe and secure thinking of our most at-risk students and our highest performers and everyone in between and meeting them where they are and helping them to learn grow and be successful it is our responsibility as a board to make decisions that will be in the best interest of their greatest number of students through this budget in regards to gymnastics the gymnastics decision we have listened
062to as many speakers we have read many many emails exchange texts and phone calls and met in person with parents and others we have then taken information and questions to Administration talked through options and what-ifs you have sent us questions on Title IX participation numbers Transportation equipment and more we have heard your questions and suggestions and have a thoughtful Converse stations with each other ultimately for me I need to know that the Sioux Falls School District can fully support a program at an acceptable level on a long-term basis after reviewing participation numbers locally and Trends nationally reviewing equipment needs and projected participation for me I feel like the answer for the budget this year is to not continue to budget These funds I know that parents have said that money can be raised students can
063pay Annual fees or fundraise a certain amount but for me for a public school we need to be able to provide a program at a level that is fully funded not relying on parents students or private donors to keep it going ensuring that our facilities and Equipment are safe and our coaches are qualified and unfortunately I don't think that our budget allows us to do that this year or long term as we look for funds to be able to continue some of our current academic programming and supports I need us to look at ways that we can impact the greatest number of students most effectively with the money that we have this is really a hard decision for all of us and I really really appreciate all the parents who have reached and children who
064have reached out to me and to the board because I know it's not hard and I know that you feel that somebody's out here against you and that's not it I I have really wanted to save this program because I think we as a district um need to offer as many opportunities as we can as a district for our students and our schools I looked at I I for me it was really can this be sustainable long term and that's why for me when I talked to I think Eric and some other parents it was I want to see numbers so that this program if this can go forward because the numbers were diminishing and it wasn't for me it wasn't a magic number it was just is this is this going to continue going
065down is this going to Plateau could this even increase a little bit so that long term um I know gymnastics is not a num a sport that has lots of numbers because you have you know the four or five in each uh activity on there and then the all-around but I I wanted to see that and um it really encouraged me to see the number of parents and kids who did step up to do this because I thought you know maybe this is something we can do with the help of this but I I was reminded by Carly that we can't rely on the parents for the financial this has to come from the district and when we look at our district we've added now wrestling and softball and um cheer and dance and some
066other activities for female participants in our schools then it becomes a numbers game of what how many can we add and still do a good service for all of those things so in looking at that we as a district have done surveys in the past and we've had as many as I think 80 or 90 students state that we would they would participate but then when it comes to the day of signing up for the activity there's 40 or 50 students so I know that we hear these numbers that they're going to come but what we have to look at who actually has shown up at the days that the activity started and we have not seen those numbers so I I wish we could find a way to do this but I just look
067at the numbers that we have and I look at the I call it the financial Lala palooza we've had the last three years because of covid funding and Esser and we're hitting this fiscal cliff and what this is one of those many things tough choices that we're probably going to be facing the next few years this budget alone has 3.2 million dollars just for reading recovery in our district just for reading recovery that's not for students like many of you here that um are able to read and have parents that are at home they're reading to you these are for students who do not or are not able to read and and those are some of the decisions we're having to make and it's really really hard but as budget people we have to be
068fiscally responsible we have to look at the numbers and I want to with my passion keep this sport but I look at what we can do as a district and it makes it very hard for me to make that decision continually I just want to add that I can assure all of you that we have read all of your emails um and all of the comments sent through to the board and let's talk between the five of us I think we've spoken to many of you um and taken all of your questions and we have in turn gone back to the administration um and asked them questions and we we have done our due diligence I can promise you that these decisions are never easy and we've had to make tough ones in the past
069we've had to close schools we've had to end reading recovery which again provided reading supports to our students it's never an easy decision for us to sit here and cut a program but we have to look at the big picture and our big picture is that we are coming up to a fiscal cliff over the next few years and we have to be responsible to the taxpayers of this community and so we have to make sure that we do our due diligence and when we make these decisions and trust me they don't come lightly not for any of us and I would just implore parents and family members and students please um look at I know gymnastics is your favorite and I really I know that's hard but please parents be a good role model
070for your students and look and help them find other activities in their schools we have lots of other activities that will be continuing our schools we want you to participate in those we want you to be able to do that and know that they are there for you to participate in as well all right any other questions or comments all right we will take it for a vote can I get a motion and a second to tentatively adopt the 2020. or budget second all those in favor signify by saying aye aye aye aye post same sign which it has passed tentatively thank you anything else for the good of the order all right can I get a motion a second to adjourn so move second all those in favor signify by saying aye I I
071opposed same sign we are adjourned