No school board election needed

The Tea Area School Board met April 13. Board members heard from continuous school improvement teachers on what they are working on with teachers on the English Language program within the district.

Business manager Chris Esping reported they received six bids for the high school/middle school paving project. The board approved the low bid from Blacktop Paving for $255,575.88. The project consists of the existing high school parking lot, east of the bus barn, strip up to the CTE building, south of the auxiliary gym, replacement in the middle school bus loop. The bid came in much lower than what was budgeted at more than $400,000.

The board approved the bid from Forman for a used 2026 Executive Coach bus for $371,000 that would seat 57. The bus has about 7,100 miles on it. This bus will be used for activities, particularly for longer trips out west.

Esping noted that Jay Ryan’s and Kristen Daggett’s seats were up for election. Daggett decided not to run again after 12 years on the board. 

Two petitions were submitted - Jay Ryan and Andrea Kuipers - so there is no need for an election and they will fill the open seats.

They had a lengthly discussion about TASK rates. Board member Tara Johanneson suggested a 50 percent decrease for staff members’ children and not have to be on the waitlist. Others thought skipping the waitlist for employees’ children is a big incentive alone with the number of children in the district. Some thought about phasing that discount to a lower rate to help with the TASK budget. Daggett suggested surveying the staff for their thoughts on if they want a lower rate or being able to get in. The board decided to continue the discussion at the next board meeting. 

The stick buildings used for TASK are at least 23 years old and some concerns have been raised on the condition of the property.

They approved increasing the TASK fee by $10 for summer (to $140) and the school year (to $85). 

The board approved the resignations of Anna Eidem as middle school counselor, Wade Begeman as middle school social studies, Alexandrea Blaha as middle school agriculture, Jordan Rohrbach as high school business education, Laura McCord as Legacy Elementary counselor, Jeremy Brewers for Frontier Elementary, Devon Foresman as middle school girls basketball coach, Cameron Axtmann as middle school drama director, Todd Gannon as middle school wrestling, Garrett Johnson as sophomore basketball coach and Sara Rogers as nurse/paraprofessional at Frontier Elementary.

They approved the new hires of Cameron Axtmann as one-act play director, Ashley James as eighth grade volleyball coach, Samuel Sitting as middle school math, Courtney Tinklenberg, Kyley Cumbow as middle school principal, Matt Brue as high school assistant football coach, Austin Koehler as assistant football coach, Tyler Schwartz as ninth grade football coach, Breanna Klocke as second grade teacher at Frontier Elementary and Kade Stearns as 10th grade assistant boys basketball coach.

The following employees transferred within the district: Gretchen Schwartz to ECSE ASD teacher, Natasha Hinman to middle school counselor, Breanna Klocke to second grade Frontier Elementary and Shawn Kennedy to middle school social studies.

They approved the resolution authorizing membership in the South Dakota High School Activities Association for 2026-27.

Superintendent Tonia Warzecha presented the proposed changes to the student handbooks. She noted the changes to the JK-5 student handbook more aligned to the middle school handbook. No changes were made to the activity handbook. The board approved all of the changes to the handbooks.

Warzecha said they are advertising for summer help to check in packages, manage invoices, label the packages for distribution and some delivery. It will be advertised internally first since those applicants are familiar with the facilities. The board approved.

In her report Warzecha, she reminded everyone that teacher of the year nominations were open until this Wednesday. Graduation is coming up.

In the operations report, new bleachers and flooring for the Legacy Elementary gym and classroom flooring replacement in six classrooms at Legacy.

The board held an executive session.