Board reviews Lakota Central data, questions role in master facilities plan

The Lakota Board of Education reviewed detailed staffing, enrollment and schedule information for Lakota Central during its April 1 meeting, as district staff and board members discussed whether the alternative program should remain in a stand-alone building or be integrated into the district's broader master facilities plan.

Christina, a district staff member presenting the data, told the board the dataset covered roughly 201–202 students at the time of the report and clarified staffing counts: "There are 7 full time teachers. But when you look at that list of staff, that is definitely over 7 people... I think it's 17." She also said Central operates a hybrid schedule in which students spend half the day in person with a teacher and the other half in asynchronous online work.

Why it matters: Board members said Lakota Central serves a small but distinct student population whose concentrated enrollment magnifies report-card results and who often require social-emotional and medical supports that differ from larger high-school settings. That raised questions about how to replicate Central's supports if the district changes the facility footprint during the master facilities planning process.

Board members and staff reviewed several data points the presenter highlighted: Central's top referral reasons were social-emotional/medical needs (about 83 percent of students), academic recovery and flexibility (about 13 percent), and alternatives scheduling (about 4.2 percent). The presenter said Central's state report-card rating was 1.5 stars for both 2022–23 and 2023–24.

Christina described how attendance is tracked differently at Central: attendance is consolidated and submitted weekly on Friday to account for both in-person seat time and completion of asynchronous work. She explained the program's credit-earning schedule: "Students earn a semester credit within a quarter and students earn a year long credit within a semester," a condensed format the presenter said can let students accrue credits faster than in traditional settings.

Board members pressed on program design, equity and replicability. One member said the small enrollment means each student's outcomes weigh heavily in the report-card calculation: "When you have a smaller in size, every kid counts more." Christina said some students likely would struggle to attend a traditional large high school despite added supports and warned the district should not eliminate services that meet those needs. "There are some kids who are just never gonna be able to navigate our lunchroom," she said.

Several trustees and staff discussed options: keep Central as a stand-alone program; integrate its model into one or more existing high schools; or design a district-wide high-school model that builds flexibility, internship and apprenticeship opportunities into regular schedules for more students. Christina said the goal is to "replicate" successful elements and to consider student focus groups as part of master facilities planning so the district can hear directly from Central students about what supports they need.

On staffing, the presenter said the original Central staff joined voluntarily when the program began; future vacancies would be filled through the district's normal posting and hiring process. Board members asked about in-person attendance rates, monitoring of asynchronous work and whether the district could create more systematic coverage or "fifth-day" options for remediation; staff said some of those supports exist but recommended exploring more systematic approaches.

The board did not vote on any change to Lakota Central at the meeting. Instead trustees directed staff to continue analyzing the data and to incorporate Central considerations into the master facilities planning process, including possible focus groups and studies of how the model could be replicated or scaled.

The board also conducted routine business earlier and later in the meeting, including approving the agenda and approving a separate, unspecified term item by recorded roll call votes (see "Votes at a glance").

Board members quoted in this article are identified from the meeting transcript; direct quotes come from Christina and board members as noted in the provenance section below.

Ending: District staff said they will continue to provide disaggregated and longitudinal data, engage students and staff in focus groups, and explore facility and instructional designs that preserve supports for students with intensive social-emotional and attendance needs while informing the district's long-term master facilities vision.