BROOKINGS During a Monday morning meeting attended by more than 60 concerned citizens, the Brookings School Board heard approximately 30 minutes of testimony from supporters of recently fired Brookings High School Principal Justin Stanley.
The board terminated Stanleys contract June 27, following an executive session meeting. In a July 1 statement in the Brookings Register, Stanley said, The issue at hand was incomplete teacher evaluations, something I take full responsibility for. He was the third BHS principal in the last three years. Assistant Principal Zach Thomas will serve as interim principal when school starts Aug. 21. Thomas has recommended BHS science teacher Phil Thramer as interim assistant principal. That still requires board approval.
School district attorney Rich Helsper addressed the audience before any public comments were allowed.
Everyone should understand and needs to understand that personnel matters are governed by South Dakota law, Helsper said. The board under no circumstances will respond to any personnel issues brought up today. All of that is done in executive session, and its not a public matter until final action or any kind of action is taken. The other important thing is that theres not to be any attacks on employees of the school district including the school board, including the administration. The public comment section is an opportunity for many of you to make up to a three-minute statement as to the issue that you wish to talk about thats not on the agenda; and if at any time in my opinion someone has crossed over the line of making personal attacks on anyone, I will recommend or share that that person not proceed further.
Despite the board moving the meeting to a 10 a.m. session on a weekday, residents filled the room at Dakota Prairie. The public comments were emotional but civil, with several people choking back tears as they spoke.
I recently graduated high school here in Brookings in 2024, Reyna Reyes said. I can confidently say I wouldnt have graduated without Mr. Stanley. He has truly cared about my education and future. The first couple years of my high school career, I was in and out of the hospital. Mr. Stanley quickly learned this, because I was missing a lot of school. He took the time to check in with me and my mom when I went to the Mayo Clinic. When I returned to school, he helped me get back on track with no rush. He gave me amazing advice that stills helps me to this day.
Others praised Stanleys compassion.
You cant teach someone to have a heart and to care, Shannon Loehr said. You can teach them how to do evaluations, how to do paperwork, how to do budgets. You can mentor him how to be the best principal. All of those things you can teach, but you cant teach somebody to care, to love unconditionally and to really be there for the students.
Some questioned the rationale for Stanleys dismissal.
If he got fired for not having an eval done, where was the person above him checking to make sure it was done? Nichole Wiehr said. Why werent they reprimanded as well? Why werent they guiding him to say, hey this needs to be done by this time why dont you have it done? Where was that accountability?
Those speaking were unanimous in their support for Stanley.
The response from your community, parents, students, staff and alumni has been overwhelming in its support for this individual, Morgan Kontz said. That kind of unity does not happen by accident. It is a reflection of leadership that has made a difference. This decision appears abrupt. When a respected school leader is removed without clear communication, it damages more than just internal morale it sends a message that trust, loyalty and service may not matter.
Preliminary budget
The board will vote on a $61,631,139 budget proposal Aug. 11 but certain questions remain unanswered.
A big question mark we have right now is Title II funding, Stacey VanBeek, director of business services, said. As of July 1, the federal government still has $6 billion in grants that they have not allocated to the states yet. That means theres $25.8 million for South Dakota that we havent seen yet. We will have a little carryover from last year, but we cant count on the $232,000 we had in Title funding last year. Thats a big hit to the budget.
A July 14 South Dakota News Watch article reported the $25.8 million in frozen funding for South Dakota alone amounts to nearly 11% of total federal education funding for the state.
All schools did receive notification on June 30 from the (state) department of education that although those funds had been allocated had been approved that they were not going to be released, Superintendent Summer Schultz said. Its not that theyre not in the original federal budget; its that the dollars havent been released to those where its supposed to go. Thats caused some conflict on whether that is something that can legally happen.
Shes been in contact with other schools.
The superintendent executive board every June, July they do go to Washington, and they felt optimistic last week after their visits at the capitol, Schultz said. If you follow this at all, on July 11 the Title IV B funds which are in the same pot of funds that are being held did get released to those who were expecting them. So that was one big step I feel, and hopefully then that would mean those Title II dollars would be released to schools.
Student phone use
The board also approved changes to the BHS handbook, updating language restricting student use of phones and other electronic devices.
Were going to be moving to a policy where students at the high school will be using pouches to put their phones and electronic devices into during the school day, Deb Debates, board member, said. However, Mr. Thomas has assured us he is going to have forums in the fall when we have our back-to-school nights where he will share information with parents and update them on how thats going to work.
The policy prohibits headphones, earbuds, radios, recorders, CD players, MP3 players, iPads, iPods, electronic readers, tape players, pagers, cellular phones, smart watches, boomboxes, wireless speakers, and electronic games at BHS during school hours. Students may use phones during lunch, and special exemptions will be made to accommodate students with medical needs.
The use of the cell phone during the school day has a tremendous impact on anxiety and has a tremendous impact on academic achievement, Debates said. Teachers are saying theyre spending a significant amount of their time trying to manage and get students to put away cell phones.
BHS has prohibited student phone use in class for several years, but enforcement has been inconsistent.
We did a survey this spring just to ask all of our stakeholders how cell phones and related devices were able to be used in the school, Schultz said. Our stakeholders were pretty disappointed in how we managed the current policy and procedures.
Debates said this policy is for BHS, and a district-wide policy is still being developed.
We are working on that, because we want to make sure that we have a policy thats age appropriate, she said. The policy about the use of electronic devices will look different depending on the age of the child. So thats where we kind of stopped. We thought we needed more time, and so there will be a new policy coming out soon.
Reorganization
The school board also formally reorganized for the 2025-26 year, swearing in new member Cassie Juba and returning member Teri Johnson the top vote-getters in the April 8 election. The board unanimously elected Debates as school board president and Johnson as vice president. The board also approved a calendar for the new school year; the next board meeting is Monday, Aug. 11 at 5:15 p.m. at Dakota Prairie Elementary School.
Contact Jay Roe at [email protected].
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