District reports progress on OCR‑related corrective actions for discipline, truancy and advanced learning

Rapid City Area Schools leadership presented a consolidated progress report on work tied to a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, describing policy revisions, data‑collection changes, training and a stakeholder equity process intended to reduce disparities in discipline, truancy and advanced learning access.

Acting Superintendent Dr. Robert Strawser (identified in the meeting as Dr. Strawser) and the district’s director of Positive School Culture and Climate, Kelly Veidt, gave trustees a walkthrough of a corrective‑action framework the district has been implementing since last year. Veidt said the plan included roughly 49 subcomponents across four buckets and that the district had prioritized three main areas: truancy, discipline and advanced‑learning access.

Why it matters: the OCR work grew from community complaints alleging disparate outcomes for Native American students in discipline, truancy and access to advanced learning. District leaders said much of the corrective action is standard best practice — consistent data, targeted training, revised policies — and that they will continue the work whether or not the OCR agreement remains in force.

Major steps reported to the board: - Data and recordkeeping: the district standardized how discipline incidents are entered into Skyward so records are linked to student files and are auditable; staff training and internal audits were emphasized as next steps. - Discipline guidance and training: the district distributed a behavior memorandum, revised its discipline matrix to emphasize context and options beyond punitive consequences, and expanded building‑ and district‑level training using Conscious Discipline, Responsibility‑Centered Discipline and other frameworks. The district also hosts a behavior‑refresh training series and regional trainings. - Stakeholder Equity Committee: the district convened a committee made up of PAC members, tribal education directors, community members and district staff. Veidt said the initial membership approached 30 people, the approved working group was about 18, and that consultants from CoAction Collective supported the committee’s work. Veidt estimated roughly 35% of committee recommendations are complete and about 80% are in progress. - Advanced learning: the district revised advanced‑learning policies (including the IGBB policy approved during the meeting) and mailed outreach letters to middle‑ and high‑school families. Staff reported that about 800 mailings were returned as undeliverable and said they will expand digital outreach and community‑based messaging. - SRO memorandum of understanding (MOU): district staff said the revised MOU clarifies that building administrators — not school resource officers — are the disciplinary decision makers and that SROs should prioritize relationship building and non‑disciplinary supports. - Public complaint process: the district revised policy KL to create an online complaint form, clear timelines for responsiveness and notice requirements to subjects of complaints.

Board questions and timing: board members probed stakeholder committee timelines and requested the committee’s report. President Troy Carr asked when trustees would get the stakeholder report; director Veidt said she would provide it promptly and indicated the district would deliver the report the following day for the board’s review.

Ending: district leaders called the work an ongoing, district‑wide effort that will continue to be tied to the strategic plan and to school‑improvement work. Trustees thanked staff for the extensive year‑long effort and asked staff to continue reporting progress to the board.