The Platte Enterprise - College of Education

If you write, you
can’t afford to be
wrong!
The Platte Philosopher
Volume 114.
Platte, Charles Mix County, South Dakota
The
Platte
Enterprise
Thursday, May 14, 2015
No. 50.
ADMINISTRATIVE NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE
Teachers, Network Administrator
Hired by School Board Monday
YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS OF YEAR — Summit Contracting, Inc of Platte was recently chosen as the SBA South Dakota Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2015. Pictured, from left, SBA District Director John Brown, Tyler Samuelson
and Jason Brown of Summit accepting the award. (Submitted photo)
New AIS Rules
Effective May 11
Submitted by Jeff Martin
S.D Game Fish & Parks
Wildlife Conservation Officer
Box 253, Platte SD 57369
As most of you have probably
heard there are some new regulations this spring concerning Aquatic
Invasive Species (AIS).
I have been getting lots of questions on these regulations including
when they will be in effect. The answer is May 11. The new regulations
focus on the transport of lake water
both in boats and in bait containers.
Those are two primary ways water
can be spread from lake to lake.
This becomes a problem if water from a lake with AIS present is
spread to a lake that doesn’t have
AIS present. That is why AIS has
gotten the nickname “aquatic hitchhikers”; it is very difficult for them
to spread to other water bodies without catching a ride whether it is in a
boat bilge or a bait container.
The new regulations state that all
trailered boats shall have all drain
plugs, bailers, valves or other devices used to control the drainage
of water opened or removed except
while in the boat ramp parking area,
being launched or loaded, or en
route from a body of water to an immediately adjacent fish cleaning station.
What this means; your boat plug
and livewell plugs must be removed
before leaving the public water access site. If you have to leave the
public water access site to reach a
nearby cleaning station the plugs
must be pulled out before leaving
the public water access.
The regulation pertaining to bait
states that a person may not transport fish or aquatic bait in water obtained from a lake, river or stream
except while en route from a lake,
river or stream to an immediately
adjacent fish cleaning station. What
this means; You are allowed to transport your bait in water taken from
the lake to the cleaning station only
if it is located on the public water access property.
If you have to leave the public
water access property to reach the
cleaning station the lake water needs
to be drained from your bait container. If you wish to keep your bait after fishing and take it home, you will
need to change the water that the bait
is being transported in from lake water to a domestic water source such
as tap water, well water or bottled
water.
If you bring bait in water from
the bait shop and keep it in that water during you fishing day and never
add or exchange it with lake water
you do not need to drain that water.
If you do not wish to keep your bait
after fishing, the grinder at the cleaning station is the preferred method
of disposal. If there is no grinder,
a trash receptacle is the next best
place. DO NOT release bait into the
lake, it is illegal.
If you wish to transport your fish
to your home, camper or a fish cleaning station located off the public water access property to clean them
these are your options.
You can transport them in a separate container that is not part of the
boat filled with a domestic water
such as tap water, well water or bottled water. You can transport them
on ice in a cooler or your livewell
but the plug must be removed. You
can transport them dry in a bucket or
the livewell with the plug removed.
It will be a spring/summer of education and learning some new habits
for all of us, myself included. If you
have any questions please feel free
to call 337-2488.
Platte Firemen,
EMT’s Dispatched
to Delmont Sunday
Several Platte firemen along with
EMT’s were among numerous area
emergency personnel dispatched to
the devastating tornado in Delmont
Sunday to be on ‘stand by’ following the event.
Platte took four units (one engine, two brush trucks and a pickup
with ATV) while two Platte ambulances also made the trip.
Platte Receives
1.57 of Moisture;
More on the Way?
Platte received 1.57 of welcome
rain over the past week brightening
the outlook for area farmers.
Most of the corn has been planted in the area and some beans have
been put in as well.
Last week’s rains also no doubt
will help the winter wheat that has
been left in around the area.
The forecast also calls for good
chances of more rain starting today
(Thursday). More rain could be on
the way over the weekend also according to future scan radars. Temps
should be hovering around the 70’s
for highs the next week.
Last week’s rains cranked up
last Wednesday and into Thursday
morning. Those showers left .35 of
precip in the rain bucket.
Rain picked back up and came
down off and on last Thursday and
into the evening. That left .36 in the
bucket for a total of .71 priming the
pump for the weekend.
Rain started to fall again on Saturday making the Platte-Geddes
Relays nice and brisk and wet. The
rain continued into the over night
and into Sunday morning. That left
.86 more in the bucket for a total of
1.57 over the past week.
Mother’s Day brought a variety
of weather to the entire state. Of
course the tornado in Delmont Sunday morning was devastating needless to say. The Black Hills was on
the other end of the spectrum as over
a foot of snow fell in many places in
the Hills.
Things were cool in the area on
Monday to start the work week as
temps dipped down in the high 30’s
and struggled along in the 40’s most
of the day with gusty winds. It did
dip down near the freezing mark in
the mid 30’s Tuesday morning before warming back up into the 60’s
Here are Tuesday’s price quotes
from the Platte Farmers’ Elevator:
Corn.......................................$3.16
Soybeans..................................8.77
Winter Wheat...........................4.73
The Platte-Geddes Board of Education approved contracts for two
new fulltime teachers, a network administrator/tech integrationist and a
drivers’ ed teacher at its regular
meeting held at 7:30 a.m. Monday
morning in the Elementary Conference Room.
After completing the agenda
with the exception of approving
administrative contracts, the board
adjourned to executive session at
approximately 8:30 a.m. to discuss
administrative negotiations with no
action taken after adjourning from
executive session. A special meeting
has been set for Tuesday, May 19,
at 7 p.m. to continue administrative
negotiation discussion in executive
session.
Four Contracts Approved
A contract was approved for
Mike Neugebauer to serve as both
Network Administrator and Tech Integrationist at a salary of $53,245.14.
He is currently a network administrator with Omaha Public School
where he manages 1,600 student accounts, 100 staff accounts and 1,000
devices. He graduated from Corsica
High School and furthered his education at STI. He will begin his employment July 1 and will train with
Jay Kuipers.
The board also approved a contract for Marc Aisenbrey as grades
6-12 teacher at a salary of $34,000,
head football coach at $3,280 and
JV girls’ basketball coach at $2,296
for a total salary of $39,576. Mr.
Aisenbrey brings five years of
teaching and coaching experience
to the district. He has served as a
fifth grade teacher, assistant varsity
football coach and girls’ junior high
basketball coach.
The board also approved a contract for Melissa Mounts as Elementary SPED Teacher at a salary of
$32,800 plus an additional $1,968
SPED Teacher Incentive and $1,640
as JH Volleyball Coach for a total
salary of $36,408. Ms. Mounts recently graduated from Morningside
College in Sioux City with degrees
in elementary and special education.
She was a member of the volleyball
team for two years.
The board set the 2014-2015
Driver Education salary at $17/
hour for both classroom and driving
sections of the class and the driver
education fee at $150 for in-district
students and $200 for out of district
students. The board also approved a
contract for James Kruse of Wessington Springs as Driver Education
Instructor for $17/hour. Kruse has
taught in the Wessington Springs
School District for 17 years and
comes highly recommended.
Two mowing quotes were received for the Athletic Complex and
practice football field. Those submitting quotes are responsible for
trimming, mowing, and must provide their own mower and gas. Brad
Peterson’s bid was $275/occurrence
and Randal Brumbaugh’s bid was
$205/occurrence and he would also
drag the parking lot to keep the
weeds down. As the quotes came
in higher than expected, the board
denied both and will have custodial
staff complete the mowing at both
fields.
Good News Report
• All teaching positions are filled
for 2015-2016 school year. Vacant
coaching positions remain in wrestling and dance after the resignations of Jeff Konstanz and Jenna
Masur, respectively.
• The FFA chapter had a successful senior trip to Ames, IA and
Moline and Peoria, IL. The $7,861
FFA donation through Midwest Ag
Center and Red Brand Homegrown
Rebate Program will be used on a
plasma cutter/router combination
table for the shop. The animal science class & senior ag class will
take a field trip to the John Morrell
processing plant on May 13.
• Kudos to musicians and music educators who performed at the
Pops Concert and Spring Concert.
Hannah Julian and Emma DeNeui
will sing the national anthem at the
State Track Meet in Rapid City.
• Sally Jongejeugd thanked the
school board for Sarah’s room and
hopes it can be used as long as needed. Sarah and the Lifequest staff enjoy being in the school as P-G students and staff make them feel very
welcome. “It is great that Sarah has
so many people around her that say
hi and the many other things you do.
Thank you very much. Have a great
restful summer,” Sally commented.
• P-G third grader Tanner Dyk
was recognized at a student assembly as a winner in a NorthWestern
Energy “Trees Together” student
art contest in honor of Arbor Day
and the School will receive $5,000
worth of trees for planting at the new
athletic complex. Tanner received a
prize basket of art supplies.
• P-G third and sixth grade quiz
bowls teams placed first at the Brain
Brawl in Gregory.
• Mrs. Rolland and Mrs. DuFrain’s students and volunteer parents built garden beds for their PBL
project last Tuesday from 5 to 9
p.m. Aaron Fite was master-mind.
Marcus Traxler of the Mitchell Daily Republic will take pictures of the
garden planting this week.
Superintendent’s Report
• A heat exchanger on a heat
pump had a leak, causing glycol to
leak into the refrigerant system so
only two of four compressors are
running. Johnson Controls is working on getting a third one up and running soon and exploring whether it
would be better to replace the whole
unit or make necessary repairs. If a
new heat pump is needed, it will be
installed after school is out.
• An assessment team from Architecture Inc., completed its high
school inspection April 30 with the
preliminary assessment showing no
major findings. A detailed report
will be received.
• May is Physical Fitness Month
so elementary and high school are
participating in an exercise challenge compiling exercise minutes
weekly.
• District is looking at a K-12
Learn 360 program.
• Working on Civil Rights Data
Survey and the Safe, Drug, & Gun
Free Survey.
Secondary Principal’s Report
Secondary Principal Patrick
Frederick reported on student
schedules and the registration process. He also noted changes to the
2015-2016 School Year Handbook
regarding Open Campus Lunch/JH,
Backpacks, Senior Requirements/
Privileges, Attendance Policy, Responsible Attendance Policy Incentive (RAP) / Semester Tests.
Other items in his report were:
• Has worked on the schedule
and class registration process using School Wizard for kids to plug
classes in to allow him to assess
numbers in each class and potential
conflicts. He hopes to establish a
consistent template of a schedule to
ease planning for students. Eventually My App will be used and run
through DDN.
• Principal Frederick went over
proposed start/dismissal times for
class days next year.
• Sixth grade Transition Day
went well.
• Highlighted upcoming yearend activities: FFA Banquet/Supper Monday, SESD Conf. Track
Meet Tuesday, 5-12 Concert in Park
Thursday, State Golf Meet May 1819, Semester Tests May 20-21, Region 6B Track Meet May 21, Last
day of school and Class Night May
2, and Graduation May 23.
Elementary Principal’s Report
• Projected enrollment at Platte
Geddes Elementary for fall 20152016 is 245 students. Numbers are
currently as follows:
½ Kindergarten ~ 11
Kindergarten ~ 45
1st ~ 34
2nd ~ 20
3rd ~ 41
4th ~ 29
5th ~ 38
6th ~ 27
• The Professional Development
Days April 29 and May 1 were extremely valuable. Staff learned from
the Journeys representative about
on-line resources that can be utilized more effectively and about the
Journeys writing curriculum. The
goal of district wide professional
development for 2015-2016 will be
focused on writing in all curriculum
areas and Journeys offers great resources in that area.
• Dianne Olson and Roxane Dyk
provided learning Standards Based
Report Cards. Staff meetings are
planned to decide which standards
to include on report cards. In the fall
staff will continue to address how
student mastery of grade level standards will be assessed and tracked.
• Parent Advisory Committee of
12 volunteers has been formed to
assist elementary staff in helping
keep open lines of communication
with parents and to get their input
on decisions affecting both parents
and children. The first meeting will
be May 18 at 6 p.m.
• Mrs. Knecht rode the PlatteGeddes Bus April 15 as an opportunity to stay connected to the students and parents served through the
bus route and plans to ride again.
• Work continues on the technology plan for the elementary building
including reviewing many devices,
getting teacher feedback and securing price quotes. A tele-conference
call was held Friday with new net(Continued on Back Page)
Care Center Open
House Is Wednesday
GUEST SPEAKER — Past Survivor reality show contestant, motivational
speaker and author of “Your Winner Within” Holly Hoffman was guest speaker
at the Platte-Geddes FFA banquet Monday evening. She’s pictured with her
torch from her competition. (Enterprise Photo by Sharon Huizenga)
The Platte Care Center will
hold a 50th anniversary open house
Wednesday, May 13 from 2 to 4
p.m. Carol Weins will provide special music and memories of days
gone by will be shared.
The Platte Hospital Auxiliary
will hold a bake sale from 1:30 to
4:30 p.m. in the front entrance of the
hospital.
Friday non-alcoholic sangrias
and quesadillas will be served at
coffee time in the Care Center to
continue the National Nursing
Home Week celebration with the
theme of “Bring on the Fiesta”.
NEW INDUCTEES — These four were honored and inducted into the Platte-Geddes Relays Hall of Fame at the first ever
Platte-Geddes Relays Hall of Fame Banquet Friday night at the Lake Platte Golf Club. From left, Adam DeHaan, Paul
DeHaan, Phil Stanforth and Ray Slaba. (Jason Huizenga photo)