MITCHELL — The Mitchell Board of Education will consider changing the district Begindergarten program from a half-day to a full-day program when it meets Monday in regular session.
The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9 at Longfellow Elementary School.
According to the agenda packet for the meeting, Joe Childs, superintendent for the Mitchell School District, will ask the board to change the program from running half-days to full-days at the beginning of the 2025 school year.
“In response to growing research on the developmental needs of young learners, I am asking you to support the transition from a half-day Begindergarten program to a full-day program at all three of its elementary schools beginning fall of 2025,” Childs writes in his notes on the agenda item. “This change will complement the district’s full-day kindergarten program, which will remain in place.”
Begindergarten is a program for children who are ready to start kindergarten but may not be academically, socially or emotionally prepared to make the full transition. It helps children understand what school is and how it works as well as prepares them for success in kindergarten and beyond.
The change to a full-day program should enhance the effectiveness of that transition, Childs said.
“The new full-day Begindergarten program is designed for students who will benefit from additional time to develop social, emotional and academic skills before moving on to kindergarten. The focus of the Begindergarten program is on preparing students for kindergarten by addressing key developmental milestones, including early literacy, numeracy and social-emotional growth.”
The board will also review class size guidelines at the meeting.
The board instituted class size recommendations in February 2024, and as part of that approval also established that the class size recommendations would be reviewed annually.
The guidelines, which were brought to the board by an advisory committee and the district administration team went into effect for the 2024-25 school year, set a recommended class size for the elementary, middle school and high school levels. They set various recommended class sizes, leaning smaller with younger classes and those that may need more one-on-one attention and ranging higher for older students and for classes like vocal and instrumental music.
“Nearly a year ago, the district reviewed the concept of class size recommendations in K-12 classrooms. After such, guidelines were developed in a way that organized decision-making processes for adding or eliminating FTE throughout the district attendance centers,” Childs said in his agenda notes. “I will recommend approval at this time.”
The class size guidelines to be reviewed can be found in the agenda packet for the Dec. 9 meeting.
The board is also expected to consider the following personnel moves:
- The new classified hires of Ashton Munsell, volunteer wrestling coach, $1, effective 2024-25 school year; Cruze Allhiser, volunteer wrestling coach, $1, effective 2024-25 school year; Nikki Hobbie, special education paraeducator at L.B. Williams Elementary, $20 per hour, 7 hours daily, effective Dec. 9 and Katelyn Overweg, special education paraeducator at Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary, $18.85 per hour, 7.25 hours daily, effective Jan. 6, 2025.
- The change in hours for Blair Overweg, special education paraeducator at L.B. Williams Elementary, 7.25 hours daily to 7 hours daily and Hailey Robbins, special education paraeducator at L.B. Williams Elementary, 7 hours daily to 7.25 hours daily. Both changes are effective Nov. 25.
- The resignations of Ramy Norgaard, special education paraeducator at Gertie Belle Rogers Elementary and Krista Vogt, special education paraeducator at Gertie Belle Rogers. Both resignations are effective Dec. 20.
- The new Mitchell Technical College hire of Emily Trebil, nursing lab clinical adjunct, $4,237.24, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
Also at the meeting, the board is expected to:
- Consider approval of Mitchell Technical College Policy 110 on second reading.
- Consider adding the position of assistant wrestling coach.
- Consider adoption of new board Policy 438 on final reading.
- Consider declaring K-12 surplus property.
- Hear board member reports.
- Hear the superintendent report.
- Hear public commentary.
The Mitchell Republic will livestream the meeting on its website.
Erik Kaufman joined the Mitchell Republic in July of 2019 as an education and features reporter. He grew up in Freeman, S.D., graduating from Freeman High School. He graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1999 with a major in English and a minor in computer science. He can be reached at ekaufman@mitchellrepublic.com.