Office of Accreditation & Teacher Quality

Resources for Onsite Visits

As a part of the new State accreditation rules, each school district in the state will host an onsite visit from the Department of Education. As a part of that onsite visit, a list of regulatory items will be spot-checked at your district. Those items are listed below. For more information about when your school district will be scheduled to have an onsite visit, please see the Tentative Site Visit table. 

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Jennifer Neuhauser at jennifer.neuhauser@state.sd.us or at 605-773-4774.

Proper documentation of compliance with all applicable state laws and administrative rules shall be provided upon onsite visit in accordance with ARSD 24:43:02:06.

1. Birth certificates are on file for all K-12 students. Authorized by SDCL 13-27-3.1.

   Codified Law states that these must be copies of official birth certificates as issued by the Department of Health. A copy of a birth certificate can be obtained by contacting the Vital Records office at the Department of Health.

    

2. Immunization records shall be updated and on file for all students. Authorized by SDCL 13-28-7.1.

   Immunization records do not have to be a part of the student’s cumulative file if they are normally kept in another file in the school. For example, some districts keep their student’s immunization records in the nurse’s office. For an onsite visit, though, the Department representative will need to have access to all records in an efficient manner. If the district keeps their immunization records in another building outside of the school districts, arrangements will need to be made with the Department in how to view those records.

    

3. Record of completed physical exams for all first-year staff shall be on file. Authorized by SDCL 13-43-3.

   SDCL 13-43-3 has been repealed by the State Legislature. Record of completed physical exams for all first-year teachers will not be checked at an onsite visit.  

    

4. A school calendar shall be submitted for all applicable attendance centers, and the on-line calendar updated on a regular basis to reflect actual instructional time. Authorized by SDCL 13-26-1.

   Each district is asked to at least note all of their vacation, holiday, and conference dates on their calendar, as well as school term beginning and end. As a reminder, SDCL 13-26-1 states that the school term for students in attendance for grades 4-12 may not be less than 962.5 hours and ARSD 24:43:09:05 states that the school term for students in attendance in grades 1-3 may not be less than 875 hours. As per SDCL 13-26-1, the school board shall set the number of days, and the length of the school day.

    

5. Course guidelines for the South Dakota academic content standards in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies should be adopted and implemented. Authorized by SDCL 13-3-48.

   This can be shared at an onsite visit in several ways. The Department will be looking to see that the administration has required that curriculum planning is directly tied to the South Dakota Content Standards in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Examples include but are not limited to samples of: curriculum maps, lesson plans, or district-adopted curriculum and/or course guides.

    

6. Parents and guardians must be notified of their right to withhold certain information that could potentially be shared through the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Authorized by 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99.

   The Department will want to see that the District made this information public. This can be done in many ways. More information concerning what should be included in FERPA information for the public can be found at the US Department of Education Family Policy Compliance Office.

    

7. Criminal background investigation of current employees and student teachers should be conducted. Authorized by SDCL 13-10-12.

   Criminal background checks should be on file for each person over eighteen years of age that is hired by the school district. This can be completed by the submission of fingerprint checks to the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). More information about how to do this in South Dakota can be obtained by contacting the DCI office.

    

8. A written plan for the safety of pupils in the event of a fire, tornado, and other disaster, should be on file along with a record showing the dates and times of drills conducted. Authorized by ARSD 24:43:09:01. In regards to the requirement of evacuation drills, please refer to SDCL 13-25-10.

   This written plan can be shared at an onsite visit in many ways. Please see several examples of safety plans below:

   • Sample plans from Woonsocket School District
     • Crisis Management Plan
     • Code Red & White
     • Code Red Men
   • Sample plan from Lead-Deadwood School District
     • Crisis Management Plan
   • Sample plan from Aberdeen Catholic School System
     • Safety Management Plan

    

9. A permanent record of each student's scholarship and attendance, as well as a cumulative record kept for each student through the elementary and secondary schools shall be kept and stored in a safe place where it cannot be destroyed. Authorized by ARSD 24:43:09:02. 

    

10. A certificate or an authority to act, or both as applicable, for each person required to be certified shall be filed in the administrative office of the school system by the time of the first contract payment remaining on file for the duration of employment, until it is replaced by evidence that the person has achieved qualification for the assignments identified on the authority to act. Authorized by ARSD 24:43:09:03.