Sioux Falls board reviews positions on roughly 39 state bills, approves recommended positions

Mr. Veek, the district’s legislative liaison, reviewed roughly 39 bills under consideration at the statehouse and outlined the district’s recommended positions before the school board voted to approve those positions.

“We have 39 new bills to go through today, so I’m gonna go fast,” Mr. Veek said as he summarized bills affecting property tax growth limits, school elections, curriculum requirements, candidate disclosures, vouchers and other education-related measures.

Veek reported the district’s positions varied by bill. Examples he read into the record included opposition to bills that would require legislative control over curriculum content, bills that would require parental notification that could interfere with counseling confidentiality, and bills that would create a statewide private-school voucher program. He said the district opposed proposals to require school board candidates to declare party affiliation and opposed some measures that would narrow revenue or capital-raising authority for school districts. The district took neutral positions on other proposals that it described as vehicle bills or that would affect multiple local taxing entities.

Board members discussed the breadth of bills and agreed the legislature at times focused on narrow classroom- or culture-related measures rather than infrastructure or pipeline issues. With no roll-call recorded in the transcript, the board approved the recommended legislative positions by voice vote after a motion and second.

The board asked staff to continue monitoring bill activity and to return with updates as legislative actions evolve during the session.