Sioux Falls feels snub over activities board exclusion
The South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors includes no members from Sioux Falls.
It's been that way since 2000, though about 20 percent of the students under the association's umbrella attend the five Sioux Falls high schools.
"How can you have that high a percentage of students not being represented for that long?" asks Sioux Falls public schools activities director Mark Meile.
In recent months, the activities association and its board have come under scrutiny amid a series of proposed changes to state tournaments, and for arguing against opening its inner workings to the state's open-meetings laws.
Plans to change the football classification system and the qualifying system for state basketball tournaments, in particular, have officials in Sioux Falls schools feeling like they are on the outside looking in.
The Sioux Falls-vs.-the-state issue surfaces again next week when the board addresses a seemingly minor proposed tweak to the association's constitution. It's a part of Article IV, section 2A on page 8 that deals with how the membership of the board is chosen.
Defenders of the current constitution wonder why changes are needed to an inherently democratic selection process — candidates are nominated for the board, and high school representatives vote.
That's in contrast to surrounding states that have more broadly appointed or elected boards that disperse the influence.
Many affiliated with Sioux Falls high schools would tell you the tussle over this small bit of political turf represents a direct attempt by high schools in smaller towns to minimize the role of the state's largest school district.
How is it that a candidate from Sioux Falls hasn't been elected since 1995? Meile asks.
"Is it that we're not running the right person every single time? Basically, we're finding that if you're from Sioux Falls, it's very difficult to get elected to the board."
The proposal
The constitution designates three spots on the eight-person board of directors based on upper, middle and lower divisions of school enrollment for grades 9-11. At the top level, which includes eight schools, this includes the Sioux Falls public schools (including Sioux Falls New Technology School), Rapid City public high schools, Aberdeen and Watertown.
A proposal would cut the total enrollment pie into four pieces instead of three. The most significant local effect of the move would be a reduction in the number of schools at the top level from eight to six. Elections for that position would consist exclusively of candidates from Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
"The change would ensure that somebody from one of the big cities would be representing us," Meile said, "and increase the probability that the largest group of students in the state have a voice."
How it works
The full-time staff of the SDHSAA, led by executive director Wayne Carney, plays a role in guiding the state's extracurricular high school activities. But the board, made up of high school principals, superintendents, school board members and athletic directors, shapes and institutes the rules.
It varies, but activities boards — including neighboring states Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota — are set up in a manner designed to ensure a variety of voices and interests are represented.
In South Dakota, in addition to the three spots contingent on enrollment of the schools, two are split based on east-west geography, another is from a Native American school, and two are school board members. One is from a school in the top half of enrollment and the other from the lower half.
The proposed amendment would take the spot now designated for school districts east of the Missouri River and move it to what would then be a four-tier enrollment group.
During the past 20 years, 75 percent of board members were from East River schools. In the past 12 years, East River schools held 62 percent of the positions.
"The rationale is that, historically, East River has been represented adequately on the board," Carney said. "And we still feel we need to protect the West River representation."
Uphill battle
Changing the categories is not ultimately a Sioux Falls issue, Meile and Carney stress. Four enrollment-based spots on the board would give many other schools with lower enrollments better opportunities for representation. Now, for instance, the Division II portion includes 29 schools. The amendment would reduce that to 12.
"This is not all about Sioux Falls and Rapid City," Carney said. "This would benefit everyone. That message needs to be out there. And changing it is no different than designating a spot, as we have in the past, for a West River school or a Native American school. It's important that we guarantee all groups representation."
The proposed amendment was presented in January so that the board might endorse it and send it to the membership this spring for a vote. However, the board voted it down 4-2 in March. That meant those interested in putting the proposal on the ballot would need signatures from schools to do it.
The board's message to those who want a change wasn't encouraging.
"I have no problem with abiding by a decision made after a proposed amendment is sent out for a vote to member schools," Meile said. "But for the board to try to make it so there won't even be a vote? I have a big problem with that."
The board's vote was moot after the signatures were acquired, but the vote reflected different views outside Sioux Falls.
"I just didn't see any reason to change it at the present time," said Pierre athletic director Dan Whalen, the Division II representative who voted to kill the proposal. "The way it is now, nobody is prevented from running, and the vote goes to the schools and the schools vote for who they like."
Rick Weber, the East River at-large representative from Flandreau, voted yes, as did Todd Trask, a board of education member from Wall.
"Regardless of whether I'm for it or not, I thought it was a good enough proposal to find out what the schools think about it," Weber said. "I thought the rationale was good enough to send it to the schools."
From the outside
Last November, Dana Dykhouse was invited to address the board. Obviously, the CEO of First Premier Bank is not a high school administrator. But he is a parent of children who were involved in high school sports and presides over a business that aggressively sponsors high school-affiliated events.
Dykhouse points toward his own experiences with governing bodies in the banking business.
"It's the perception of reality," he said. "If I'm on a board and the only people on that board are from the big banks, how is the poor guy in Hosmer going to be heard from? And making sure his voice is heard is something we can do something about. You make sure someone in his situation is part of the decision-making process."
Dykhouse also touched on site selection for state tournaments. The Denny Sanford Premier Center is nearing completion, and Dykhouse would like to see more high school events enjoy its charms.
"I do not think picking a site for a tournament based on the role that tournament plays in building that community's economy should be a priority," Dykhouse said. "We have banks in some of those communities, and we aggressively support what they're doing, but I think when we're selecting sites for competitions we should look at how best we can create an event that will be memorable for the kids."
Speaking both to anticipated reluctance to send more tournaments Sioux Falls' way — and an inability to get local representation on the board — he would like to see everyone lighten up a bit.
"Is there a bias against Sioux Falls? Yes. Is there a bias against the Twin Cities in Minnesota, a bias against Fargo in North Dakota, a bias against Lincoln in Nebraska? Yes," he said. "These petty rivalries are nothing that people in other states have not dealt with. Let's get over it and do what's best for the kids."
What's next?
Sioux Falls is eligible to have a candidate for one of four spots elected this year on the board of directors. School board member Todd Thoelke will be, by Meile's estimation, the ninth nominee from Sioux Falls up for a position since Carney left in 2000.
The ballot will have five proposals, three sponsored by the board of directors and two, including the board of directors' spot, based on enrollment, sponsored by member schools. Those in favor of the change and those who favor the status quo may submit written opinions to be included with the ballots sent to superintendents.
A change to the constitution requires 60 percent approval.
Given the history of issues and candidates with a Sioux Falls flavor, skepticism is high that anything will change.
"Under the current constitution, I really don't know how anyone from the Sioux Falls area would ever get on that board," O'Gorman athletic director Steve Kueter said. "It's always going to be a statewide vote, and Sioux Falls is always going to have just four votes, and a lot of schools simply will not vote for a Sioux Falls person if they have another option. When they couldn't even get the proposal on the ballot until they got petitions, that really sent up a red flag. But at least we get to vote on it."
Some suggest a legal remedy. That's worked before to change SDHSAA policy. More recently, legislative scrutiny regarding open meetings pushed a policy shift.
"We'll continue to bring attention to the fact that we don't have representation and continue to hope we can initiate change," Meile said. "And we'll continue to nominate good candidates and try to get them elected. But it is something we've tried several times in the past without success."
Other states
A sampling of how some other Upper Midwest states select a board of directors to govern high school activities:
SOUTH DAKOTA
The activities association usually has eight positions on its board of directors who serve five-year terms. When an opening occurs, schools eligible to put up nominees submit candidates and the schools elect new members.
The eight spots are filled based on the following criteria:
• One for Native American high schools
• One for West River and one for East River schools.
• Three spots designated by enrollment based on the top third, middle third and bottom third of average enrollment.
• Two spots for Board of Education members. One from a large-school group made up of the upper half of school enrollment and one from the small-school group from the lower half.
NORTH DAKOTA
11 members of a board of directors who serve four-year terms:
• Three chosen from "A" schools with two based on geography and one at-large
• Four represented by "B" schools, based on geography
• One high school principal
• One athletic director
• One superintendent
• One school board member
MINNESOTA
20 board of directors members who serve four-year terms:
• Four appointed by the governor. One must be Native American, Asian, black or Hispanic. All must be parents.
• Two members of the state Association of Secondary Principals
• Four from Class A regions, based on geography
• Four from AA regions, based on geography
• Two appointed by the state School Boards Association
• Four based on activities. Categories are boys sports, girls sports, music and speech.
IOWA
Nine members of the board of directors:
• One appointed by the state Department of Education as a nonvoting member
• One appointed by the Iowa Association of School Boards
• One coach, coordinator or athletic director, elected
• One Class AA principal at-large, elected
• Five based on geography, elected by their districts