Tag Archives: education

Who looks worse today: Munsen or administrators?

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My Monday morning got off to a fast start when we received an anonymous tip about the Mitchell boys’ basketball program being put on probation for a year by the South Dakota High School Activities Association. To make a long story short, coach Gary Munsen was caught coaching a player or players out of season, which is a no-no.

That part of the story wasn’t really a surprise. Anybody who knows Gary Munsen knows this isn’t his first rodeo. He’s had great highs, including more than 600 career wins, but he’s also had embarrassing lows, including at least one previous probationary period with the SDHSAA, an arrest on domestic assault charges that were later dropped and a suspension by school administrators for reasons that were apparently never made public.

So, given what’s happened in the past, it’s not really a shocker that Gary Munsen is in a little bit of trouble. What was shocking, at least to me, was the response of school administrators.

You see, all of this stuff with Munsen went down in mid-April. The probation and some other disciplinary actions were handed down by the state Activities Association board at its April 19-20 meeting. Neither the public nor the media knew about it, though, because none of it was on the Activities Association agenda and school administrators in Mitchell didn’t tell anybody.

You read that correctly. Even though Superintendent Joe Graves and Activities Director Geoff Gross were fully aware of everything that had happened, they stayed silent about it. When our reporter called all five school board members yesterday, none of them knew anything about the situation. The administrators’ excuse? The Activities Association didn’t require them to tell the school board.

Maybe this is just me, but if you were on the school board, wouldn’t you expect your administrators to tell you about something as significant as the school’s most prominent and successful extracurricular program being put on probation for a year because of a rule violation?

And thus I return to the question in the title of this post. Who looks worse today: Munsen, or Mitchell School District’s administrators?

Noem wants to talk No Child Left Behind

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Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D.

FROM MY EMAIL:

Rep. Kristi Noem Kicks Off Education Reform Listening Tour
 
 
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Kristi Noem (R-SD) will kick off a listening tour this week with events around South Dakota focused on hearing from parents, teachers and other stakeholders as Congress begins the process of reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly referred to as the No Child Left Behind Act.   Noem wants to hear directly from those who are on the front lines of educating our children before Congress begins its work on reforming our education system to improve accountability and promote innovation.  Noem is a member of the Education and Workforce Committee, which will take the lead in reauthorizing this important education law later this year.  Noem plans to continue this listening tour with additional stops West River and in other parts of the state in the coming months.
 
What:  Education Listening Tour Stop in Milbank
When:  Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:00AM Central
Where:  Milbank School District- Central Office, 1001 East Park Avenue, Milbank
 
What:  Education Listening Tour Stop in Watertown
When:  Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 3:00PM Central
Where:  Watertown Regional Library, 160 6th Street NE, Watertown
 
What:  Education Listening Tour Stop in Lennox
When:  Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 2:00PM Central
Where:  Lennox High School, 1201 S. Main, Lennox
 
What:  Education Listening Tour Stop in Vermillion
When:  Friday, May 20, 2011 at 3:15PM Central
Where:  Vermillion High School- School Library, 1001 E. Main, Vermillion

S.D. Wind Energy Association meeting in Mitchell

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I don’t know why, but this seems to be a big week for statewide organizations to meet in Mitchell. Yesterday, the state Board of Education met here and discussed, among other things, a big building project that’s been proposed at MTI. You can click here to read that coverage.

Today, the South Dakota Wind Energy Association is conducting its annual meeting in Mitchell. We’ll be there to cover it. If you want to follow along today, you can click here for the agenda and click here to watch live video from the meeting.

Daugaard’s homework

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Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard held a press conference Tuesday morning to unveil his plan for South Dakota education.

Bob Mercer, a veteran in covering South Dakota politics, filed a story about the Republican gubernatorial candidate’s plan.

According to the story, Daugaard’s “top priority for education is to place more emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics in South Dakota’s public schools, state universities and public technical institutes, as a cornerstone for building South Dakota’s economy.

“The Republican candidate for governor also called for eliminating the state law that requires a school district must have at least 100 students to continue qualifying for state aid, and for changing state laws that restrict the amounts of funds which school districts can maintain in reserves.

“Daugaard said he would lead a conversation statewide about finding ways to help school districts deal with their needs for buildings so they aren’t constrained by their abilities to raise funding locally.

“He said he would like to see capital funding be available more equitably, similar in concept to the per-pupil funding formula used for general education support in the K-12 districts, where local ability to raise money is supplemented as necessary by state aid.

“Some school districts have the financial ability from their local tax base to build first-class facilities while other districts have been forced to hold classes in mobile trailers, according to Daugaard.

“’I don’t know the answer yet, but I do know that we need to find a way to address these disparities,” he said.”

See more in Wednesday’s Daily Republic.

State Sen. Scott Heidepriem, the Democratic candidate for governor, will hold a press conference in Sioux Falls Wednesday morning to discuss his thoughts on education.

Column: Lavish college living may have consequences

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I wrote a column published in today’s paper about the dramatic change in college students’ standards of living in recent years. Here’s an excerpt:

I’m not that old, but I’m old enough to remember when going to college meant roughing it.

When I moved into Mathews Hall at South Dakota State University in the fall of 1997, my room was sparsely furnished. In fact, it wasn’t all that different from a prison cell.

As I recall, the room was tiny, with cold, tile floors and concrete-block walls. It had no air-conditioning and was outfitted with only the basics for its two occupants: two beds, two sets of drawers, two desks and a phone hookup. Our one luxury was cable TV, which I think we splurged for out of our own pockets. There was one laundry facility and one kitchen for the entire building. Both were in the basement.

Just 13 years later, things have changed dramatically. Going to SDSU these days appears to me like attending a four- (or five- or six-) year-long business convention at a luxury resort.

Click here for the rest, and please share your thoughts.