BrandonInfo.com

If the school district does sanction soccer, the school teams would play on city fields. The golf teams already golf at the city course, the cross country runners have their meets at McHardy Park, which is a city park, and the tennis teams play on city courts.

As far as I know, the school doesn’t pay rent to the city for using the city facilities for school sports. Some people might say the city gets the short end of that stick by not getting reimbursed for the cost of maintenance that school sports cause. Others might say the city and school should work together and it’s all for the kids anyway, so what’s the difference.

What are your thoughts?

The South Dakota High School Activities Association says soccer can be a sanctioned school sport starting in 2011, but individual school districts will decide whether their schools will offer it. Brandon Valley hasn’t decided yet and probably won’t decide until next year.

Brandon Valley already sponsors soccer even though it isn’t sanctioned. And Brandon has a very active club soccer program, with fields the city has built over the last couple of years.

School officials have said it would cost the district about $40,000. That doesn’t seem like much in a budget that tops $10 million. On the other hand, these are hard times. Do you think sanctioning soccer is a good idea? Do you think Brandon Valley should do it?

The school district is saving money by using real silverware and plates instead of styrofoam in the schools.

Except at Valley Springs Elementary. There’s no dishwasher there, so they’re still using disposable.

What do you think of this cost savings to the district? How about at Valley Springs? Would a dishwasher pay for itself eventually?

The Brandon Valley School District will spend $7,335 this year for a service that lets the school call your home to tell you if school is called off for the day or other school-related information. Do you think this is a good value?

Instead of having to listen to the radio on snowy days, you’ll just get a recorded message that school is canceled for the day. The district can use the service for other things too, like reminding parents that conferences are coming up or that standardized tests will be given on a certain day. Once you start thinking about it, thee are hundreds of things about which the school could call. (”Hello, this is the school. Tonight at 6:30 p.m., the school board will be voting on the coming year’s budget.” “Hello, this is the school. Please remember to vote at Tuesday’s bond election.)

The school can even target subgroups. (”Hello, this is the school. Please remember that all grade school students must turn in their book fees by Friday.”)

Are you excited that you will have these convenient reminders, or do you fear that the school will be calling you with all kinds of notices about which you don’t care? Or do you feel somewhere in between?

About what kinds of things would you like the school to call you? What kind of notices are important to you?

A few years ago, taxpayers voted to spend $23 million to build a new grade school, add additions onto the high school and make improvements at Valley Springs Elementary. Now all that work is done and the district had $1.5 million leftover, so they gave it back.

Do you agree with this decision? If so, why? If not, why not?
It will save the school district a bunch of money in interest that won’t need to be paid down the road. But maybe the school district could have spent the money on something else. District business manager Paul Lundberg said there are restrictions on what the money could be spent on, but there still might be something.

I was bummed this morning when I learned that the Brandon Valley Community Education pottery class won’t be held this fall. I was planning to play in clay each Wednesday night through October. Apparently, enough people didn’t sign up for the class. I took the pottery class last year and made Christmas ornaments for many friends and relatives. I had a great time, and it was fun to see what-all the other class members made. We all learned new techniques.
Have you ever taken one of the community education classes? There is a wide variety of opportunities, including cooking, finance, exercise, crafts and more. In addition to pottery, I signed up for the coffee cupping (tasting) class. It’s a one-night class. I’ve been to a coffee cupping before and really enjoyed learning more about the roasting process and tasting the subtle flavor differences in the various coffees.

What classes have you taken, and how did you like them? What classes would you like to see offered?

The Sioux Falls School District sells student names and contact information to companies that ask for it. Brandon Valley School District does not. What do you think about that?

Most of the companies who buy the names are places like photography studios that are targeting high school kids for senior pictures.

Feel free to blog about your opinions of this practice. Also, I am writing a story about this for the Brandon Valley Challenger. If you are willing to speak to me for my story (I would have to be able to use your name), please contact me at apthiele@argusleader.com. I have to have the story written by Thursday evening, though, so I would need to hear from you very soon.

Thank you.

Alica P. Thiele

Fred Assam Elementary is now open. The city of Sioux Falls helped pay for an expanded gym, plus some of the playground equipment. What do you think of the city contributing to school facilities?

Do you worry that the city will want some say over how the facilities are used? That the city might intrude on school use?

Do you worry that the school will accept the city’s help and then end up pushing the city out, trying to get exclusive use of the facilities?

Do you think that the partnership is a great idea and will serve both the school and the city?

What are your thoughts?

The city and school have reopened negotiations about where to move the skateboard park. But users won’t have any trouble finding it once it’s moved, because talk is of moving it only a stone’s throw, to just east of the water tower. That would cost $75,000. The ice skating rink would be moved too, to an area near McHardy Park, for $25,000.

It’s not set in stone yet, so there’s time to comment. What do you think of the plan? The school wants the skateboard park moved because of plans for a new band practice field at the spot where it is now.

When I was in grade school, the school district decided that everyone who lived on my side of the highway had to go to Valley Springs Elementary. So I attended fifth and sixth grade there. At first, I wasn’t very happy about it. I threatened to pitch a tent across the highway and establish residency there so I could stay with my friends at Brandon Elementary. But of course I made new friends in Valley Springs. And in seventh grade, kids from both elementaries were classmates in junior high. So at that point, I knew everyone. Worked out fine.

The school district this year is looking closely at enrollment numbers, juggling them so none of the schools is too full. So far, enrollment is up 51 students from last year. So far, Robert Bennis and Brandon elementaries will be at 70 percent capacity, and the new Fred Assam Elementary will be at 40 percent.

Which school will your student attend? Is that the school you prefer? That your child prefers? Will your student have to change schools this year? If you’ve requested an open enrollment change, why?

Brandon Valley is looking for mentors to pair with students in all of the BV grade schools. Are you thinking about mentoring a student?

The middle school already uses mentors. If you have been one of them, what has been your experience? Or maybe you mentored in a town where you used to live. What was that experience like?

Do you think mentoring is a good thing? I know a person who mentors a girl in Sioux Falls, and she said they have become friends. The student is aging out of the program now, but she and her mentor plan to keep in touch.

Do you have trouble picking up or dropping off your middle school student? Is the traffic flow adequate? If not, what can be done to improve it, in your opinion?

What experiences have you had in the parking lot at the middle school?

Brandon Valley is the fifth largest school district in the state out of 160 districts. It ranks 157th in per-student spending.

Are you surprised to hear this? Brandon Valley spends a base of $5,168 per student in the 2007-2008 school year, the most recent figures available. Once special education and pension costs are figured in, that amount increases to $5,978. The state average is $6,438 ($7,520).

Do you think Brandon Valley should spend more per student? If so, on what types of things do you think the district should spend more?

Do you think Brandon Valley students are getting a quality of education that meets or exceeds the amount the district spends?

In a poll on wwwbrandoninfo.com, people are split on whether the school board should pay for back rests on the bleachers in the new high school gym. They cost about $30,000 more than standard ones. Forty-nine percent of those responding to the poll say yes, give us back rests. Fifty-one percent say no, don’t do it.
The school board will discuss back rests at tonight’s school board meeting. Is the issue important enough to you to attend the meeting? If not, would you call a school board member to let them know how you feel? If you wouldn’t make a special call to a school board member, would you at least tell them how you feel if you happen to see one of them at, say, a public event?

I suspect the board members will hear from very few people with opinions on bleacher back rests. So they will have to use their own judgment when deciding whether to spend the $30,000. Are you comfortable with that?

Governor Mike Rounds is proposing a change in the way the state funds growing schools. If passed, it would take a year longer for schools to get reimbursed for the money they spend each year.

As I understand it, it works this way: Let’s say a school has X students and spends Y dollars in 2008-09 to educate them. The state reimburses the school for the Y dollars in the 2009-10 school year. That works fine if a school has about the same number of students every year. But let’s say during the 2009-10 school year, the school has X+5% students. Where does that extra 5% money come from? Under Rounds’ proposal, the school wouldn’t get it from the state until the 2010-11 school year. That would make schools like Brandon Valley scramble to come up with extra money.

Do you think the Brandon Valley School District should be worried about Rounds’ proposal?

A lady told me today that she saw a grade school child walking to school this morning. She said he was bundled up, but she still felt very bad for him having to walk to school in -15 degree weather.

It reminded me of the time I was in seventh grade and walked home from school in -2 degree weather. I got frostbite on my legs, which were bare. I’d worn a skirt with knee socks to school that day.

It also reminded me of the time my daughter missed the bus and started to walk to her grandma’s from school. It was -2 degrees that day, too. Thank goodness we’d bought her a snowsuit the day before. And thank goodness some good citizen called the police, who found her and gave her a ride the rest of the way to grandma’s.

Do you bundle up your children properly for the weather? If they typically walk to school, do you find alternate transportation for them on bitterly cold days?

The Brandon Valley School District has received Governor Mike Rounds’ Healthy School Award and the $5,000 award that goes with it. The money will be spent on school wellness programs. One of those is the annual health fair, which draws 1,600 people.

Is your child healthy? Do you serve healthful meals at your home? What specific things have you done to provide your family with good nutrition and activity?

I go to water aerobics, but not nearly often enough. I have cut back on my evening snacks, and I have lost some weight (but not nearly enough). There are things we all can do.

The school board last week said no to gym seats that would have more leg room and more head clearance than standard bleachers. These fancier bleachers would have cost $30,000 more than the standard ones.

Some board members said they promised no frills when they advocated for the $23 million they needed to build the new gym, new grade school and to make improvements at the high school and Valley Springs Elementary. And they’re sticking to that promise, they say. At least one board member said that since some costs have come in under estimates, the district could spring for the nicer bleachers and still not exceed the $23 million overall.

Do you attend events in the Brandon Valley High School gym? Would you like more leg room? Would you like to be able to see over people’s heads easier? If so, is it worth $30,000 to you?

I grew up on Sylvan Circle in Brandon, and our back yard abutted Highway 11. Before my fifth-grade year, the Brandon Valley School District changed the boundaries. Everyone east of Highway 11 (Splitrock Boulevard) had to go to Valley Springs Elementary.

I wasn’t happy. I said I’d pitch a tent in the ditch across the road and establish residency there so I still could go to Brandon Elementary, where my friends were.

Didn’t happen, though. I went to sixth and seventh grades in Valley Springs. I think it was a good experience. I made new friends. Coincidentally, a couple of kids I knew from kindergarten in Sioux Falls had moved to Valley, and I got reacquainted with them in Valley Springs. Plus, when both grade schools came together in junior high, I already knew everyone.

Next year, Brandon Valley Schools will open its fourth elementary school. Someone has to attend there. Will it be your child? Maybe he or she will be upset, like I was, to have to leave friends in one school to attend another. But maybe your child will make new friends, like I did, and will be grateful in middle school and high school for those early connections with fellow students.

What do you think about the new school boundaries the district is proposing? Post your thoughts and questions here, and we’ll do our best to respond. And if you have questions, you can ask them at two upcoming public forums at the middle school media center (library), on Nov. 24 and Dec. 8.