SF School Board Votes Monday on Hiring Former Board Member Morrison

The Sioux Falls school board apparently votes on Monday, August 14, on whether to hire Douglas C. Morrison for a new six-figure administrative position, just six weeks after Morrison’s term on the school board ended.

Funny—the Sioux Falls school district staff directory already lists Morrison as a program director/supervisor:

I noted last week that the job description for the new “director of research, innovation, and accountability” was posted in May 2017. Megan Raposa helps fill in the timeline for the creation and filling of this position:

[Superintendent Brian] Maher began developing the position over a year ago, hoping to create a clear connection between all of the district’s data and research efforts and classrooms.

…It wasn’t until after Morrison announced he wasn’t running for re-election that he told Maher he was interested in the new director position, though he did express interest in applying before the position was formally posted on May 29.

The position was advertised on the district’s web page and on the Associated School Boards of South Dakota website from May 29 to June 13, meaning Morrison would have applied while still serving on the school board, though he wasn’t formally offered the position until July 17 [Megan Raposa, “School Board to Vote Monday on Six-Figure Contract for Former Board Member,” that Sioux Falls paper, updated 2017.08.10].

As Superintendent Maher tells Raposa, nothing in Sioux Falls School District policy (most pertinently, Policy BCB on School Board Member Conflict of Interest and Policy GBEAA on Employee Conflict of Interest) prohibits a board member from seeking employment with the district that begins after the member’s board term ends.