School District readies for fall learning
The Tea Area School Board met July 28 and Aug. 3 to prepare for the school year.
At the July 28 meeting, the board approved the wearing of face masks when within 6 feet of each other or when not in control of surroundings. Face masks will be required on buses, but they will not be required outside. Teachers are asked to make face mask rest areas in their classrooms.
The district will work with families with medical concerns on face masks.
They will also try to maximize the use of outdoor spaces for as long as they can.
The district will emphasize hand hygiene with sanitation stations and soap and water areas.
The board approved the South Dakota High School Activities Association report and will begin activities on time.
The lunch room will have students seated in a zigzag pattern and be at 50 percent capacity.
They approved the following teachers for the Tea Area Online Academy: Kindergarten – Tracy Schmidt, Grade 1 – Stephanie Farwell, Grade 3 – Wendy Devine, Grade 4 – Brooke Duncan, Grade 5 – Kylie Coyle, middle school ELA – Drew Weber, middle school social studies – Sandy DeJong, middle school science – Alissa Hugelman, high school ELA – Adam Schorzmann & Brooke Palleschi, high school social studies – Ryan Decker & Adam Schorzmann.
Grade 2, middle school math and high school science were open.
The board approved the new hire of Samantha Relph, halftime paraprofessional, and resignation of Jody Woehl, paraprofessional.
At the Aug. 3 meeting, the board received an application to fill the remainder of Todd Irvine’s term from Jason Bennett. He was appointed to fill out the term and took the oath of office.
The board received an update on activities and protocols outlined for communication from the Department of Health and Department of Education.
To fill the open positions in the Tea Area Online Academy, curriculum director Tonia Warzecha will teach second grade and superintendent Jennifer Lowery will teach middle school math.
The board approved the resignations for Carla Whitis for food service, Jeff Walder for paraprofessional and Alyssa Linn for middle school science.
They approved the new hires of Sierra Hillan as paraprofessional, Jennifer Husby as nurse, Ashley Chaussee as nurse/paraprofessional, Elyssa Houtsma as middle school social studies and Travis Ehrisman for Tea Area Online Academy science.
The board will meet Aug. 10 for their regularly scheduled school board meeting. They will review updated handbooks due to the pandemic at that meeting.