School board hears from House candidate

The Lennox School Board met Sept. 14 and heard from District 16 candidate.

District 16 South Dakota House of Representatives candidate Tim Rhead spoke to the board during public comment about his candidacy and his history in education.

Superintendent Adam Shaw noted they are featuring staff every week on the website to connect the community with teachers. He received an open records request that was extensive that goes back to House Bill 1017 last legislative session. They also wanted all of the civil rights data, data incidents and more. He sent it on to the district’s attorney. He said all of the districts in the metro area have received the request.

Business manager Angela Arlt provided information on the tax levy request from the counties. The board certified the requests of $1.051 per thousand for ag, $0.669 per thousand for owner-occupied and $4.867 per thousand for other. 

They approved the following substitutes for worker’s compensation: Jack Aasheim, Sharon Albers, Liz Bachmann, Jack Birk, Lindsey Breen, Lisa Dasheur, Shane DeBoer, Tara Hagena, Kelly Johanson, Shawn Johnson, Lisa Kaupins, Sheila Kovacs, Joy Lang, Drew Mannes, Jon Merrigan, Karen Oltmanns, Michelle Pepper, Vickie Plucker, Tammy Reed, Molly Schaefer, Carol Shade, Cade Sherard, Wade Tirrel, Stephanie Wildeboer, Angela Williams, Gayla Wipf and Rhonda Youngquist.

The board approved the list of 32 categories of surplus items. None of the items are valued over $2,500.

They approved the change order for $58,288.40 from Stockwell Engineers for the high school parking lot. They also approved the final pay application for $496,663.66 for the high school parking lot project from Seal Pros.

The board delayed action on the energy tax credit proposals. Arlt said the district can wait until the October meeting.

They approved school board and administrative goals for the 2026-27 school year. Goals included short-range, mid-range and long-range goals.

The board reviewed the classified staff resignations from Tracey Abbott for transportation, Alissa Costa for foodservice, Julie Fossum as Worthing Elementary custodian and Alissa Luden for transportation.

They also reviewed the new classified staff work agreements for SadieLee Hilt for foodservice and Bertha Wollman for foodservice.

Shaw discussed looking at an outside source to do some long-range planning for the district. He talked about doing a request for information on the subject before moving forward.