Watertown School Board Reviews New Policy Updates Tied to South Dakota Law Changes

Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Watertown School Board on Monday conducted first readings for four policies, each tied to recent legislative changes or updates in state law, with Superintendent Dr. Jeff Danielsen emphasizing that the district has already been following the requirements but is now formally codifying them in policy.

Four policies introduced for first reading

During Item 7.4 — First Reading of Policies, Superintendent Dr. Jeff Danielsen presented the following policies:

BDDC — Agenda Preparation and Dissemination (New Policy)

Danielsen said this policy was created in response to heightened statewide discussion surrounding South Dakota’s open meetings laws.

“We always followed the state law, but it’s been enough of a political topic that rather than a small update, we added the full policy,” he said.

The policy outlines:

·         Posting requirements

·         Notification timelines

·         Procedures for making agendas publicly available

These requirements mirror SDCL 1‑25, which the board reviewed earlier in the meeting as part of its annual compliance.

BEC — Executive Session (Updated Policy)

This existing policy was revised to ensure all eight allowable purposes for executive Session are explicitly listed.

“We wanted to make sure all eight points are reflected, because we do need to note in our minutes why we went into executive Session,” Danielsen said.

The updates align the district’s policy with SDCL 1‑25‑2.

IGA — Basic Instructional Program (New Policy)

This new policy formally incorporates requirements the district has already been following, including:

·         CPR and AED instruction

·         New legislative mandates related to prenatal human growth and development, added during the most recent legislative Session

“We were always following state law… now it’s noted in policy,” Danielsen said.

JHCDB — Epinephrine Auto‑Injectors and Nasal Spray (New Policy)

This policy reflects updated state law allowing schools to maintain and administer nasal spray epinephrine in addition to auto‑injectors.

“The change this year was more noted to the nasal spray option,” Danielsen said.

Legislative changes driving policy additions

Danielsen noted that many of the district’s policies have historically referenced state law rather than restating it, in an effort to avoid an overly large policy manual. However, recent legislative debates have prompted districts statewide to adopt more explicit language.

“Some of these topics have begun to be a little more political in nature when they get adopted,” he said. “We want to make sure those folks who made sure they were noted through state law understand that we are following and making those changes accordingly.”

Policies will return for action next month

All four policies were presented for first reading only. They will appear under Action Items at the August board meeting.

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