Sioux Falls superintendent offers look at plans, priorities and leading through changing times

If there is such a thing as a normal school year, Jane Stavem hasn’t seen it in Sioux Falls yet.

Stavem became superintendent in mid-2020. Ever since, she has led against the backdrop of the pandemic. And while school buildings have remained “open” throughout her tenure, that does not mean it has been business as usual.

“It made it seem like everything carried on as usual, but there are dents,” she said. “We won’t know for a long time what those effects were on kids academically.”

The rest of the story might still be waiting to be written, but here’s what to know for now.

While school remains in session, buildings are managing quarantines, and students are missing class for large blocks of time. Many are managing various stages of learning loss, and a number of students have moved in from a huge range of former school settings.

“We have a number of kids who have moved in and were in virtual environments somewhere else, and they’re behind,” Stavem said. “It’s never a stagnant picture.”

The Sioux Falls School District largely has avoided the firestorms that erupted nationwide over the past two years as differing beliefs clashed across a broad spectrum of political, social and public health issues.

“It affects us, and yet it doesn’t,” Stavem said. “We made decisions on what we truly felt was the best picture for our school district. And you have to take into account the range of community views, but ultimately you’re doing what you think is the right thing to do for children.”

It helps that “we’ve had really good community support,” she added.

“That’s been a blessing. What that tells me is even if people got mad about one thing or another … as a community there is a value on the roles that our schools and school district play in the health of our community, and part of that is the value of civility and how we do business in Sioux Falls.”

She credits the school board for doing a good job “of keeping a pulse on our community, and the pulse just wasn’t there for radical interference,” she said. “It was strongly held beliefs but still with the best interest of kids staying right in here.”

But once students arrive in class, the work of educators is forced to take on an evolving approach. The challenge is “knowing where we need to dig in to have the most impact,” Stavem said.

She and her team are implementing a nationally known model to help guide that work, designed to discern the needs of students and respond accordingly.

And those can run the gamut.

There’s the high school student who came from another state and should be in the junior year but has the credits of a freshman.

There’s the first grader who doesn’t know letters and sounds.

And there are students of all ages coming to class with the lingering effects of isolation, and social and emotional stress that didn’t exist to this degree two years ago.

Stavem thinks of the young elementary student not understanding why everyone suddenly looks like they’re at a doctor’s office in a mask up through the high school student struggling to decide on a college not knowing what the experience might become in a pandemic environment.

“I think all of this has added a new layer of uncertainty,” she said. “What we know is collectively our counselors will tell you they have more kids come that will express anxiety or more of some depression, and I think COVID probably did accelerate some of that.”

Setting priorities

Against that backdrop, where does a leader start?

“Academics is why we exist, so academic achievement has to be at the forefront,” Stavem said. “We have work to do in elementary reading and math, we have work to do with adding more dual credit for our high schoolers, curriculum work in middle school, things that have to happen academically no matter what. Our kids need to grow.”

The district at the same time, though, has invested in well-being for both students and staff – everything from counselors to professional development.

The need is for continuous improvement, Stavem added.

“To me, gone are the days of setting a three- and five-year plan and sticking with that plan,” she said. “We want to be more flexible. Some priorities need to stay in place three or five years, but it’s continual review.”

She said she’s encouraged by the district’s success recruiting and retaining staff and that the district has been proactive sourcing ideas from within – “good things that will become part of how we do business … and good stewards of our resources and thinking ahead what that looks like for facilities.”

Stavem has paid many visits to the district’s newest schools, Ben Reifel Middle School and Jefferson High School, including observing how students are using some of more unique spaces.

She enjoys going right after school, talking to kids about how they’re using flexible seating and gathering spaces.

“The coffee shop at Jefferson is another example,” she said. “It’s been fun to go to events and see how people enjoy the new gyms and auditorium and how kids feel about it, so we try and talk to kids.”

What she often hears in return is that “they love their school,” she said. “They like being there.”

That supports another focus for the superintendent: what kids are doing outside the traditional class hours.

“We want our schools to be hubs of the neighborhood,” she said. “A big piece we’re focused on, with that community aspect, is what happens after school.”

Talk to kids about things they could be doing after school, and “their eyes light up,” Stavem said. That could be anything from a baking club to a book club, art projects or ag-related activities. All have been discussed as ways to engage students who otherwise might be home alone entertaining themselves in other ways.

“We have visions of expanding in partnership,” Stavem said. “I look through an opportunity lens, and as we cultivate those basic foundational layers with academics and supporting the whole child, it’s also about what we can offer kids that we’ve never offered before and who are the partners willing to come alongside us.”

Hear more from the superintendent in her own words: