MITCHELL – The Mitchell Board of Education will consider high school credit waivers and a policy review for Mitchell Technical College at its meeting Monday.

The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Room 10 of the Mitchell Career & Technical Education Academy.

According to the agenda for the meeting, the board will consider scheduling a public hearing on exemptions that allow students to earn high school credit for certain subjects before starting high school.

Under South Dakota Department of Education administrative regulations, courses cannot be accepted for high school credit if they are offered before a student enrolls as a freshman in high school. However, this requirement can be waived, and Mitchell School District Superintendent Joe Childs said in his agenda notes that this is the case at Mitchell High School.

“This requirement may be waived — and has been waived in Mitchell for decades through the formal exemption process for various courses — should the board approve such an exemption after a public hearing,” Childs wrote. “Currently, we have a small number of students who may wish to take high school-level Algebra II and/or Geometry while still at Mitchell Middle School, typically in the MCL program.”

Examples of such subjects would be Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and Social Studies, Childs said.

Enabling lower grade students to take such courses can give them a head start as they approach their high school years at Mitchell High School.

“(It) has proven to be a wonderful opportunity for such students to typically continue on to high school and take more advanced courses in a variety of areas due to the more flexible schedule it provides. Such courses may include electives, music and/or post-secondary work once they reach, again typically, their penultimate year of high school,” Childs wrote. “Therefore, I would ask the Board to hold a public hearing on this matter and, assuming we hear no compelling arguments against it at that hearing, to approve the exemption for this middle school civics class for the next five school years.”

The Board is also expected to review Mitchell Technical College’s policies from Series 400 through Series 600.

Both the K-12 and Mitchell Tech policies are reviewed on a four-year cycle and revised as needed. Notes from the meeting agenda indicate a number of changes to various policy entries, although most appear to be wording changes or a change in titles for officials with special responsibilities at the school.

The guidelines with recommended changes can be found in the meeting agenda.

The following personnel changes are being considered:

• The newly posted salaries of Tierra Nighpipe, parade coach at Mitchell High School, $18.88 per hour, 7 hours daily, effective Aug. 21; Steffanie Cushard, food service kitchen supervisor at Gerite Belle Rogers Elementary, $20 per hour, 8 hours daily, effective Aug. 14; Katelin Theunissen, paraeducator at Mitchell Middle School, $16 per hour, 7.25 hours daily, effective Aug. 21; Porter Reimnitz, general food service assistant at Mitchell Middle School, $16 per hour, 5 hours daily, effective Aug. 19; Rebacca Genzlinger, MS Musical, $1,795, effective 2024-25 school year; Ashley Sinkie, general kitchen helper at LB Williams Elementary, $17.75 per hour, 6.5 hours daily, effective Aug. 19; Ingrid Triqueros Pineda, Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary, morning custodian, $19 per hour, 8 hours daily, effective Aug. 7; Sean McQuilllan, volunteer girls soccer coach, $1, effective 2024-25 school year; Keenah Escobin, volunteer assistant dance coach, $1, effective 2024-25 school year; and Angie Iburg, MS paraeducator, $19 per hour, 7 hours daily, effective 2024-25 school year.
• The new certified hires of Amber Hiles, speech/debate assistant and MS yearbook, speech/debate assistant compensation: $4,488; MS yearbook compensation: $1,795; Chris Gubbrud, boys basketball assistant coach, $5,203; Melissa Miller, oral interpretation director and debate director, oral interpretation director compensation: $3,122; debate director compensation: $7,804; Parker Grotjohn, football assistant coach, $4,488; Samuel Fosness, 8th grade ELA at Mitchell Middle School, $47,520; Shelby Fray, robotics, $1,795 and Luke Norden, Kernel Club coordinator, $10,000. All hires are for the 2024-25 school year.
• The resignations of Jessie Uher, assistant teacher at LB Williams Elementary, effective at the end of the 2023–24 school year; Lisa Vermeulen, assistant teacher/computer assistant at Longfellow Elementary, effective July 30, 2024; Gabrielle Bell, assistant teacher at Mitchell Middle School, effective at the 2024–25 school year; and Jessica Kremer, assistant teacher at Mitchell Middle School, effective July 29, 2024.
• The 6th grade assignments of Denise Hoffman, Kevin Kelly, Bruce Mastel (first semester), Jordan McKean, Jeff Musser, Alyson Palmer, Mercia Schroeder, Marica Shannon, Kristina Starr, and Penny Weisz. All have a 6th grade assignment and all are for the 2024-25 school year.
• The transfer of Chelsey Plamp, certified nursing instructor, from the position of nursing instructor to Mitchell Technical College in the amount of $65,000, effective August 1, 2024.
• The new hires at Mitchell Technical College include Benjamin Goeman, student success coach/advisor, $51,200/207 days, effective Aug. 1; Stacey Jensen, instructional support technician, $61,748/217 days (prorated from $70,000 to 246 days), effective Aug. 12; Chandler Baumgart, power line construction and maintenance instructor, $68,000, effective in the 2024-25 school year; Tessa Pederson, admissions officer, $48,261 ($53,000 prorated to 224 days), effective Aug. 1, 2024; Emma Truebenbach, food service coordinator, $43,750, effective Aug. 1, 2024; Jason Juhnke, heating and cooling technology instructor, $73,574, effective in the 2024-25 school year; Leigh Johnson, part-time radiation therapy instructor, $3,600 – RTH 202 Radiation Therapy Physics (4 credits), effective August 19; Bobbi Brink, part-time speech and language pathology laboratory instructor, $4,500, effective August 19; Sara Delaney, part-time speech and language pathology laboratory instructor, $4,500, effective August 19 and Rebecca Harvey, part-time speech and language pathology laboratory instructor, $4,500, effective August 19.

In addition, the Board is expected to:

• Consider approving the Mitchell High School Student Handbook.
• Consider approving the annual report.
• Hear the reports from the board members.
• Listen to the superintendent’s report.
• Hear public comments.

The meeting is open to the public. The Mitchell Republic will broadcast the meeting live on its website at www.mitchellrepublic.com.

Erik Kaufman joined the Mitchell Republic in July 2019 as an education and features reporter. He grew up in Freeman, SD and graduated from Freeman High School. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1999 with a major in English and a minor in computer science. Reach him at [email protected].