BROOKINGS — The Brookings School District Board of Education has approved a reduction in staff for the 2026-27 school year.
The board OK’d a recommendation from Superintendent Summer Schultz to issue notices of non-renewal of contracts due to a reduction in staff.
The board went into executive session to discuss the issue at its April 13 meeting.
The staff reduction is part of cuts of roughly $1 million the district needed to make because of declining enrollment and rising utility and insurance costs, as well as a shortfall in the level of funding from the state.
The board came out of executive session to approve the decision. There was no discussion on the issue prior to the vote, which passed unanimously.
The notices of non-renewal will be issued to:
• Reid Pierzinski, Mickelson Middle School teacher.
• Cassidy Hunt, Hillcrest art instructor.
• Paige Miller, kindergarten teacher at Medary Elementary.
Schultz said the the motion for the cuts noted that they were made in accordance with state law, district policy and the negotiated teacher agreement.
Schultz said district has an April 15 deadline to notify the teachers that their contract are not being renewed.
Schultz added that the teachers have first rights to any position that opens that they are certified for.
The cuts the district is making come in the wake of a 1.4% increase in funding from the South Dakota Legislature for K-12 education — well below the mandated levels for funding increases, which are tied to the level of inflation. Schultz said that number should have gone up by the rate of inflation at about 3%, according to state mandates. The legislature did not adhere to its mandated levels for education funding.
“The board has a statutory and legal obligation to bring about a balanced budget,” Schultz said.
At the meeting, Schultz outlined budget considerations that prompted the cuts, including increases of $140,000 for health/dental insurance, $85,000 for for property/liability and $90,000 for utilities. This, combined with an expected decrease in enrollment of about 40 students, created the budget pinch.
Schultz said some of the efficiencies created by the recently passed boundary changes helped alleviate some of the problem.
“It’s hard to find a million dollars and we were able to find it without eliminating a program,” Schultz said.
Board President Deb DeBates said reducing staff is better than cutting a programs.
— Contact Doug Kott at [email protected].
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