ASBSD Board elects officers, hears update from Secretary of Education

Aberdeen Board of Education President Duane Alm was elected President of Associated School Boards of South Dakota at the January board of directors meeting in Pierre.

Alm, in his fourth year as a regional director, has served on ASBSD’s executive committee for the past two years. He has also chaired the ASBSD Policy and Resolutions Committee and was recently elected to serve on a similar committee for the National School Boards Association.

After the election, Alm told board members that he’d like to continue to emphasize strategic planning and facilitate better communication between regional directors and the board members they represent.

Susan Humiston, a member of the Edgemont School Board, was elected first vice-president and will preside over the ASBSD Policy and Resolutions Committee. Theresa Hoarty, a board member from Wessington Springs, was elected second vice-president.

21st Century High Schools

Education Secretary Dr. Rick Melmer updated board members on the department of education’s progress on developing a 21st Century High School Framework, a plan that will stress making high school more challenging and relevant.

The framework includes a series of voluntary initiatives that Dr. Melmer believes will better prepare students for college and the workforce. There is little or no cost to most of the plans, he said. The framework could be available as early as this spring.

In other news, the ASBSD Board:

• Learned dues to the National School Board Association will increase $40,000 next year
• Established an internal committee to review association policy.
• Heard updates regarding the 2008 Legislative session.
• Decided that the 2008 Delegate Assembly to November 21, 2008, in Pierre.

Newly elected ASBSD President Duane Alm (left) listens to Education Secretary Dr. Rick Melmer during the ASBSD Board of Directors Meeting in January.