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RC Schools Creates Community Advisory Board

Kealey Bultena
/
SDPB

A panel of community members can soon weigh in on work happening in Rapid City Schools. People can apply to be part of a community advisory council. The group will meet once a month to discuss issues related to education in a broad context.

Rapid City Area Schools superintendent Lori Simon says she’s been talking about a community advisory board since she interviewed for the district’s top job. Simon says people who live and work in the community have ideas and perspectives to contribute.

"The business community, the faith community, the city, the county, health care, military, different community organizations that are out there, our retired community, as well as our higher ed community partners," Simon says.

Simon says she wants a group of about 20 people to engage in education issues from their unique perspectives. She says the volunteer board is an untapped resource in Rapid City.

Simon says the board is one part of her goal to elevate communication and better address challenges.

"I wanted to improve some of the structures that we had in place working with parents and teachers so that it was really more of an opportunity for me as a superintendent to share about the work of our district and use that committee structure as a vehicle to get important feedback from those stakeholders," Simon says.

Simon says parents and teachers have valuable opinions – and so do people who are not involved in public education every day.

Rapid City school leaders are accepting applications through December 2. You can find a link to the application here on the district's homepage.

Kealey Bultena grew up in South Dakota, where her grandparents took advantage of the state’s agriculture at nap time, tricking her into car rides to “go see cows.” Rarely did she stay awake long enough to see the livestock, but now she writes stories about the animals – and the legislature and education and much more. Kealey worked in television for four years while attending the University of South Dakota. She started interning with South Dakota Public Broadcasting in September 2010 and accepted a position with television in 2011. Now Kealey is the radio news producer stationed in Sioux Falls. As a multi-media journalist, Kealey prides herself on the diversity of the stories she tells and the impact her work has on people across the state. Kealey is always searching for new ideas. Let her know of a great story! Find her on Facebook and twitter (@KealeySDPB).