The Swier Law Firm Education Law FAQs

The capital outlay fund is used for the purchase or lease of land; improvements of grounds; construction of, additions to and remodeling of facilities; for purchasing textbooks and instructional software; or for the purchase or lease of equipment. 

Yes.  Article VIII, Section 1 of the South Dakota Constitution emphasizes the importance of a “general and uniform system of public schools” and places the duty to establish the system on the Legislature:

The stability of a republican form of government depending on the morality and intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature to establish and maintain a general and uniform system of public schools wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all; and to adopt all suitable means to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education.

Yes. A contract is only binding on a school district if approved by the school board at an annual, regular, or regularly called special meeting.

Yes. A school district and the State of South Dakota may transfer, exchange, or convey land and properties belonging to them and under their jurisdiction upon the terms and conditions agreed upon by the respective governing bodies.  

South Dakota law provides the following regarding the display of the Ten Commandments on school district property:

Any object or document containing the Ten Commandments may be displayed in any public school classroom, public school building, or at any public school event, along with other objects and documents of cultural, legal, or historical significance that have formed and influenced the legal and governmental systems of the United States and the State of South Dakota. Such display of an object or document containing the words of the Ten Commandments:

1. Shall be in the same manner and appearance generally as other objects and documents displayed; and

2. May not be presented or displayed in any fashion that results in calling attention to it apart from the other displayed objects and documents.

A school board may excuse a child from school attendance because of a serious illness in the child’s immediate family which makes his presence at home an actual necessity, or makes his presence in school a menace to the health of other students. The school board may require medical evidence as a condition to granting this excuse. 

No elective county, municipal, or state officer, or the holder of any other office in which the duties are incompatible or inconsistent with a school member’s duties, is eligible to be a school board member.

Yes. In South Dakota, a school district may charge a nominal fee for providing school bus transportation services to students whose residence is less than five miles from the school.

However, the fee may be charged only to those parents who request school bus transportation services for their children. The amount of the fee shall be established by the local school board.

Yes. In South Dakota, after the final adoption of a budget, the school board can adopt a resolution setting forth the source of funds and the intended purpose for their use and may amend the budget to use available unobligated resources.

Under South Dakota law, a school district's proposed budget must be published in the designated official newspaper not later than July fifteenth along with a notice of hearing on the budget.