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Lodmel Expands Explanation of Tri-Valley Enrollment Scheme to Include Educational Software

Oh! Tri-Valley superintendent Mike Lodmel revises and extends his explanation of his free-laptops-for-homeschoolers enrollment-enhancement scheme!

In response to the Government Operations and Audit Committee’s request for information about Tri-Valley’s mini-scandalous and foiled ploy to bring home schoolers onto campus for just one day, include them in the school’s enrollment figures, and claim state funding for them, Superintendent Lodmel says he was just trying to work a way to get the state to fund homeschoolers’ access to some credit-recovery software called Edgenuity:

Tri-Valley School District to GOAC, not dated, posted to GOAC website 2017.10.02.
Tri-Valley School District to GOAC, not dated, posted to GOAC website 2017.10.02.

Wait a minute: Superintendent Lodmel didn’t explain it that way last month when suspicious homeschool advocates ratted him out.

Tri-Valley to GOAC, posted 2017.10.05.
Tri-Valley to GOAC, posted 2017.10.05.

Dr. Lodmel seems to be carving out a little wider margin of excuse for his district’s action. I wouldn’t complicate the story too much more, Tri-Valley. Just let the letter be what it was, stick with your contention that you did nothing against the law, and let the Legislature throw its chips where it pleases.

With his feet a little closer to the fire, Dr. Lodmel takes a less agnostic position than his Chester counterpart Heath Larson on GOAC’s suggested responses to the Tri-Valley enrollment scheme. Dr. Lodmel says he’d support an audit of five to ten districts with high disparities between student enrollment used for funding purposes and their graduation numbers. He says changing the enrollment count date, periodically auditing student counts, and imposing fines on schools engaged in such enrollment-boosting behavior is not warranted.

Lodmel’s missive to GOAC does not indicate whether he intends to attend GOAC’s hearing Thursday (and maybe Friday) in Sioux Falls to testify in person.

8 Comments

  1. Rorschach 2017-10-03 13:40

    Rep. Sue Peterson’s response was right on the mark. Lodmel got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and now he’s trying to spin his way out of it. Even if Lodmel’s scheme is not illegal, it’s unethical. He should be fired for this scheme.

  2. Donald Pay 2017-10-03 17:06

    I think Lodmel deserves praise for doing everything that is legal to benefit the students of his district. There was nothing illegal about the ploy. Yes, it was a “ploy.” If they would have had a better plan to market the district, along with the hardware/software package, I would say it would be a great idea.

    Here’s what’s unethical: as succession of Legislators and Governors, who for years and years fail to provide adequate funding to public schools. Who was it that set up the crazy school funding system? Who set up the educational cooperatives in a way that siphoned money from districts? It wasn’t Lodmel. The same people who gutted citizens efforts to de-corrupt the Legislature, are responsible for every bit of this. Lodmel just found a way to benefit his district’s students. Good for him.

  3. grudznick 2017-10-03 17:45

    So, Mr. Pay is saying the legislatures who follow the laws on how much they must send to schools is mad because the good teachers aren’t seeing enough funneled down to them. Makes you wonder how many other fatcat administrators out there are “pulling a Lodmel.”

  4. Donald Pay 2017-10-03 20:50

    Grudz, Legislators make the laws. Lodmel was simply following the law that the legislators made for him. Nothing he did was against the law. Did he find a small loophole that he intended to exploit? Yes. What would be the effect of him exploiting that loophole? More homeschool kids would have access to technology at no cost and his district would have a few more dollars to pay teachers and shore up programs for students. I wish we could get 105 Lodmels in the legislature who cared enough about education to put students first.

  5. Timoteo 2017-10-04 09:00

    I would have thought that what happened at Tri Valley was already against laws on the books, according to the following. Districts are forbidden from giving “any thing of value” as an inducement to attend school.

    http://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/Codified_Laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=13-28-34

    Sometimes people make honest mistakes, but sometimes there is corruption. Either way the answer is for school boards and administrators to conduct themselves beyond reproach, all the time — in public and also in secret. Come on, South Dakota. Let’s become ethical and honest.

  6. Donald Pay 2017-10-04 09:16

    Timoteo brings up why the SD Legislature are clowns. Talk about dumb and overly broad statutes!!!! This law would mean that any teacher who provided a star on an attendance sheet or promised a pizza party at the end of the year would be guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor. And I suspect education itself could be a “thing of value.” Get real.

  7. grudznick 2017-10-04 17:41

    Especially on the side of the senators. And since they can’t give themselves raises without a public uprising expect for them to do more lavish trips and parties and fancy offices.

  8. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2017-10-04 22:33

    Timoteo, I was wondering if someone would find a statute like that! I wonder if Lodmel’s lawyer reviewed that one? Class 2 misdemeanor—will AG Jackley drop that hammer?

    Ror’s mention of spin reminds me that on September 14, Lodmel posted on Facebook what he called his “last statement” on the matter. Perhaps he didn’t expect GOAC to send him a letter on September 21. But he could easily have responded to GOAC with an explanation like what he wrote on September 14 to the public and resisted elaborating. Evidently Legislative scrutiny persuaded him that his last statement wasn’t quite good enough for his final answer.

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