Education Online, April 2019

April 2019

HOT TOPICS
	Final legislative summary available Here is the final summary of education-related bills passed during the 2019 legislative session. The list of bills is not all inclusive. To access all bills from the 2019 session, visit the Legislative Research Council’s website.

Attend a “Money, Monitoring, the Law and your District” event DOE staff, led by Director of Finance and Management Matt Flett, will cover a range of topics, including a recap of the 2019 legislative session, overview of the general and special education state aid formulas (with formula calculators), teacher compensation accountability and excess general fund cash balance accountability statutes, new federal grant allowable cost policies, special education maintenance of effort, and an update on the Consolidated Application timeline.

Workgroup addressing changes to ESSA State Plan The South Dakota Department of Education is working with a group of stakeholders to begin discussions about revisions to the ESSA State Plan, which could include changes to the accountability system. The ESSA State Plan Revision Workgroup held its first meeting March 19-20 in Pierre and is expected to meet several times in the months ahead.

	Board adopts new school library and world languages content standards At its March 18 meeting, the South Dakota Board of Education Standards adopted new school library and world languages content standards. Find more information on the South Dakota Department of Education’s Content Standards webpage. State Library to offer online course on new school library standards

Special education staff honored at statewide conference
Congratulations to the Parent Nominated Special Education Staff of the Year, who were recognized at a luncheon in their honor at the recent South Dakota Special Education Conference in Deadwood. Shannon Merkouris, Sioux Falls School District, (front, with plaque) received the Outstanding Special Education Staff Award.

Civil rights regulations training to be offered in June
The South Dakota Department of Education is making available a professional development opportunity that will allow participants to gain in-depth knowledge into civil rights federal regulations for the educational setting. The full-day sessions will feature specialists from the regional U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights in Kansas City, Mo.

Time to check status of waivers from administrative rule
Your school district may have a waiver from administrative rule that expires June 30. The list of current waivers is available on DOE’s Administrative Rule Waivers webpage. Districts with End of Course or Credit by Exam waivers set to expire will need to file an end of waiver term report, and if desired, make application for a new waiver.

Harness the power of data to help students
The South Dakota Department of Education is offering a data use course for educators this summer. The Fundamentals of Using Data for Educators course provides educators with the skills they need to analyze and use data to answer important questions to drive positive change in their classroom, school or district.

Distribute Parent Involvement Surveys by April 30

School districts must distribute Parent Involvement Surveys to parents of children with disabilities by April 30. The South Dakota Department of Education sent the surveys to districts in the fall. If needed, additional copies are available by contacting Beth Schiltz at 605-773-4257.

Complete School Library Survey by May 4

The South Dakota State Library has opened the annual school library survey to collect data for the 2018-19 school year. Each district is asked to submit one survey per district rather than one survey per library. The survey is available online through May 4.

21st Century School Library Award applications open until May 1

The State Library recognizes schools with libraries that meet the characteristics of a 21st Century school library through their program, place, and professional. School librarians are encouraged to apply for this special recognition.

Encourage your experienced teachers to become mentors

The statewide mentoring program provides a first-year teacher access to a mentor teacher for a period of two years. Applications for new mentors are due May 1, and applications for new teachers are due June 15. Late hires will also have an opportunity to participate.

Upcoming Events

A complete listing of events is available at GoSignMeUp.

Special Education Advisory Panel
April 3

SD Early Childhood Education Conference
April 4-6, Pierre

SD School Library EdCamp
April 6, Rapid City and Sioux Falls

TIE Conference
April 7-9, Rapid City

Title Programs Wednesday Café
April 17

Consolidated Application Learning Series
April 17, online
April 24, online
May 1, online

SD-STARS topical webinar
April 24

Accreditation Support Training
April 25, Mitchell
May 1, Pierre

State Historical Society History Conference
April 26-27, Pierre

Norms for English Learners Webinar Workshop
May 6 and May 13

Board of Education Standards
May 20, Brookings

SD Dept. of Education Annual Conference
May 29-30, Pierre

Civil Rights Regulations in the Educational Setting
June 10, Rapid City
June 12, Watertown

MTSS Summer Conference
June 11-12, Oacoma

The Fundamentals of Using Data for Educators
June 13, Rapid City
June 18, Watertown
June 19, Mitchell

Save the Date! Indian Education Summit
Sept. 22-24, Pierre

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