Chester Area School District, South Dakota, elections
| Chester Area School District |
|---|
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| District details |
| School board members: 7 |
| Students: 542 (2023-2024) |
| Schools: 7 (2023-2024) |
| Website: Link |
Chester Area School District is a school district in South Dakota (Lake, Minnehaha, and Moody counties). During the 2024 school year, 542 students attended one of the district's seven schools.
This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.
Elections
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Election rules
Election dates and frequency
School board elections in South Dakota must be held in each district between the second Tuesday in April and the third Tuesday in June every year. The school district board determines the election date for the district. School districts can but are not required to consolidate their elections with municipal elections on one of three dates: the second Tuesday in April, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June, or the third Tuesday in June. In 2023, 52% of districts scheduled their elections for the second Tuesday in April, 22% of districts scheduled their elections for the Tuesday after the first Monday in June, and 20% of districts scheduled their elections for the third Tuesday in June. The remaining 6% had unknown 2023 election date schedules or scheduled their elections for different unconsolidated dates.
See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-10
Election system
School board members in South Dakota are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.
See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-10
Party labels on the ballot
School board elections in South Dakota are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. South Dakota Statute Section 13-7-13 concerning the ballots for school district elections states, "No party affiliation may appear on the ballot and the names of the candidates for the respective vacancies shall be printed on the ballot."
See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-13
Winning an election
The candidate or candidates who receive the most votes are elected to the open seat or seats that are up for election.
See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-10
Term length and staggering
School board members have three-year terms. Initial terms for school board members of newly formed districts or school board member seats that were newly added to increase the total number of board members are set to be one, two, or three years to stagger elections.
See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-8-2
As close to one-third of school board seats as possible are up for regular election every year.
See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-10
Representation: at large vs. by sub-district
School board members can be elected at large, by representation area (sub-district), or a combination of the two. School board members are elected at large by default, but school boards or voters through a ballot measure can establish school board representation areas. As of 2022, 143 districts (96%) elected all of their school board members at large, four districts (3%) elected all of their school board members from sub-districts, and two districts (1%) used a combination of the two.
See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-8-7
Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates
The candidate filing deadline for school board candidates is 39 days before the election unless the election is consolidated with a municipal election and the municipal election filing period dates are used.
See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-6
Newly elected school board members officially take office at the school board's annual meeting, which is held by default on the second Monday of July. The school board may set a different date for its annual meeting.
See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-8-10
About the district
School board
The Chester Area School District consists of seven members serving three-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.
| Name | Year assumed office | Year term ends |
|---|---|---|
| Keith Alverson | ||
| Brett Bauman | ||
| Jessie Baumberger | ||
| Leon Gerry | ||
| John Nelson | ||
| Brittany Schaefer | ||
| Darin Seeley |
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District map
Overlapping state house districts
The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.
Budget
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[1]
| SOURCE | AMOUNT | AMOUNT PER STUDENT | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal: | $840,000 | $1,481 | 13% |
| Local: | $3,657,000 | $6,450 | 55% |
| State: | $2,113,000 | $3,727 | 32% |
| Total: | $6,610,000 | $11,658 |
| TYPE | AMOUNT | AMOUNT PER STUDENT | PERCENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Expenditures: | $6,003,000 | $10,587 | |
| Total Current Expenditures: | $5,512,000 | $9,721 | |
| Instructional Expenditures: | $3,335,000 | $5,881 | 56% |
| Student and Staff Support: | $545,000 | $961 | 9% |
| Administration: | $821,000 | $1,447 | 14% |
| Operations, Food Service, Other: | $811,000 | $1,430 | 14% |
| Total Capital Outlay: | $482,000 | $850 | |
| Construction: | $372,000 | $656 | |
| Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: | $9,000 | $15 | |
| Interest on Debt: | $0 | $0 |
Academic performance
Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."[2]
The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-2022 | 45 | PS | PS | >=50 | 40-44 | ||
| 2020-2021 | 45 | PS | >=50 | 45-49 | |||
| 2018-2019 | 52 | 50-54 | |||||
| 2017-2018 | 57 | PS | PS | PS | 55-59 | ||
| 2016-2017 | 56 | PS | PS | PS | PS | 55-59 | |
| 2015-2016 | 46 | PS | PS | PS | 45-49 | ||
| 2014-2015 | 51 | PS | PS | 50-54 | |||
| 2013-2014 | 20-29 | 20-29 | |||||
| 2012-2013 | 85-89 | PS | PS | PS | 85-89 | ||
| 2011-2012 | 78 | PS | PS | PS | PS | 75-79 | |
| 2010-2011 | 75 | PS | PS | PS | 75-79 |
The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-2022 | 54 | PS | PS | >=50 | 50-54 | ||
| 2020-2021 | 59 | PS | >=50 | 60-64 | |||
| 2018-2019 | 62 | 60-64 | |||||
| 2017-2018 | 62 | PS | PS | PS | 60-64 | ||
| 2016-2017 | 58 | PS | PS | PS | PS | 55-59 | |
| 2015-2016 | 66 | PS | PS | PS | 65-69 | ||
| 2014-2015 | 59 | PS | PS | 55-59 | |||
| 2013-2014 | 20-29 | 20-29 | |||||
| 2012-2013 | 75-79 | PS | PS | PS | 75-79 | ||
| 2011-2012 | 71 | PS | PS | PS | PS | 70-74 | |
| 2010-2011 | 69 | PS | PS | PS | 70-74 |
The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:
| School year | All (%) | Asian/Pacific Islander (%) | Black (%) | Hispanic (%) | Native American (%) | Two or More Races (%) | White (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-2022 | 45-49 | PS | PS | 45-49 | |||
| 2020-2021 | 40-44 | PS | PS | PS | 40-44 | ||
| 2019-2020 | 35-39 | PS | PS | 40-44 | |||
| 2018-2019 | 45-49 | PS | PS | 45-49 | |||
| 2017-2018 | 30-34 | PS | PS | PS | 30-34 | ||
| 2016-2017 | 50-54 | PS | PS | 50-54 | |||
| 2015-2016 | 45-49 | PS | PS | 45-49 | |||
| 2014-2015 | 40-44 | PS | PS | 40-44 | |||
| 2013-2014 | 45-49 | PS | PS | PS | PS | 50-54 | |
| 2012-2013 | 55-59 | PS | PS | 55-59 | |||
| 2011-2012 | 55-59 | PS | 55-59 | ||||
| 2010-2011 | 55-59 | PS | 55-59 |
Students
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[3]
| Year | Enrollment | Year-to-year change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-2024 | 542 | -6.3 |
| 2022-2023 | 576 | 1.6 |
| 2021-2022 | 567 | -3.2 |
| 2020-2021 | 585 | -2.4 |
| 2019-2020 | 599 | 4.8 |
| 2018-2019 | 570 | -5.8 |
| 2017-2018 | 603 | -4.3 |
| 2016-2017 | 629 | -0.3 |
| 2015-2016 | 631 | -6.5 |
| 2014-2015 | 672 | 8.0 |
| 2013-2014 | 618 | 2.1 |
| 2012-2013 | 605 | 1.7 |
| 2011-2012 | 595 | -8.6 |
| 2010-2011 | 646 | -1.5 |
| 2009-2010 | 656 | -4.0 |
| 2008-2009 | 682 | 17.3 |
| 2007-2008 | 564 | 35.5 |
| 2006-2007 | 364 | 0.5 |
| 2005-2006 | 362 | -1.1 |
| 2004-2005 | 366 | 5.2 |
| 2003-2004 | 347 | -1.7 |
| 2002-2003 | 353 | -2.5 |
| 2001-2002 | 362 | -5.8 |
| 2000-2001 | 383 | 4.2 |
| 1999-2000 | 367 | 0.0 |
| RACE | Chester Area School District (%) | South Dakota K-12 STUDENTS (%) |
|---|---|---|
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.0 | 10.5 |
| Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| Black | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| Hispanic | 0.9 | 8.5 |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 1.5 | 5.9 |
| White | 97.4 | 70.0 |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Staff
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[4]
As of the 2023-2024 school year, Chester Area School District had 37.38 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 14.5.
| TYPE | NUMBER OF TEACHERS |
|---|---|
| Prekindergarten: | 0.83 |
| Kindergarten: | 1.99 |
| Elementary: | 11.74 |
| Secondary: | 15.64 |
| Total: | 37.38 |
Chester Area School District employed 4.00 district administrators and 2.00 school administrators as of the 2023-2024 school year.
| TYPE | NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS |
|---|---|
| District Administrators: | 4.00 |
| District Administrative Support: | 4.00 |
| School Administrators: | 2.00 |
| School Administrative Support: | 0.00 |
| TYPE | NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF |
|---|---|
| Instructional Aides: | 9.00 |
| Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: | 0.00 |
| Total Guidance Counselors: | 2.00 |
| Elementary Guidance Counselors: | 0.00 |
| Secondary Guidance Counselors: | 0.00 |
| Librarians/Media Specialists: | 0.00 |
| Library/Media Support: | 0.00 |
| Student Support Services: | 4.22 |
| Other Support Services: | 15.00 |
Schools
The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[5]
About school boards
Education legislation in South Dakota
Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.
See also
| School Boards | Education Policy | Local Politics | South Dakota |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2021-22 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed October 18, 2025
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
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