Harrold School Board did well by community

The Harrold School District has had a tumultuous few years. Not only did the small school about 34 miles east of Pierre discover that it would have to consolidate, but it went through two unsuccessful consolidation efforts before voters in the Harrold and Hyde County school districts finally approved the consolidation.

Officials in the district have handled the difficult situation appropriately by sticking to their beliefs and requiring negotiations to make the best of the situation for their community.

From the very beginning of the process, the Harrold School District set out stipulations that the school gymnasium needed to remain available for the community. This was an agreed-upon part of the consolidation between the Hyde County School District in Highmore and the Harrold district. It also would have been a part of the deal if the consolidation had been approved with Stanley County in 2006.

The district also gave the city more than $100,000  from the district’s Capital Outlay fund to start a fund for operation and maintenance of the gymnasium — also part of the agreement, according to Harrold School Board Vice President Sue Sommer.

This week, the Capital Journal discovered that the new school board formed for the consolidated district instructed the superintendent of the consolidated district to script letters of opposition to that transfer of funds. 

We believe the Harrold School District is doing well by its community, which should be the focus when the only school in a community must consolidate or dissolve completely. Without a school, many activities in the district will cease, and the town residents must be in self-preservation mode. Also, if this transaction was agreed upon in the terms of the consolidation, it seems disingenuous at best that voters who approved those terms would attempt a take-back at this point.

A city the size of Harrold would not have adequate funds to operate a community gymnasium or auditorium without start-up money. And a city the size of Highmore should know that.

Also opposed in letters written by the consolidated district superintendent under direction of the board was the Harrold district’s decision give approximately $60,000 in bonuses to its staff.

School officials said the bonus pay came from unexpected Impact Aid money the school received, so it would not have been considered in any negotiations with the Hyde County School District. The Harrold School District is still in charge of its own funds until June 30, when the consolidated district will officially take over the school’s operations.

Officials of the combined district expressed beliefs that those dollars could have been better spent in the new district. Of course, there is some truth to the idea that a school district, especially a small one, can use an extra $60,000.

But the fact is, most of the staff at the Harrold School has known for several years they would likely be out of jobs at the end of this school year, yet they stuck with the district, gloomy outlook and all.

Only four staff members of 19 have been guaranteed jobs in the new district. Call it severance pay, an incentive to stay or simply a bonus for a job well-done, it’s not unusual for professionals to receive extra pay for good work. We say these staff members deserve the extra $2,500 to $3,000 apiece awarded to them.

The Harrold School District was looking out for its own in both of these situations, and though the decisions may have been controversial, we hope the newly formed district will move beyond that and show as much care for its new community as the Harrold district did for its old one.