ELKTON — In a split decision Wednesday night, the Elkton School Board accepted the resignation of first-grade teacher Taylor Thompson but rejected the resignation of Superintendent Brian Jandahl.

The resignations were offered after a Brookings Register report last month that a Brookings man had been indicted for being at the school — as an invited guest speaker — while he was a registered sex offender.

Nearly 100 people attended the special meeting of the board which was moved to the school gym to accommodate the crowd. 

There were four agenda items — the two pending resignations and two new policies spurred by the incident. 

After a half hour public comment period the board entered executive session for more than an hour before returning to decide on the resignations and offer a first reading of the policies.

The board — chair Derek Frerichs, Arend Schuurmand, Brooks Van Dyke, Nathan Kinner and Waylon Blasius — voted unanimously to accept Thompson’s resignation.

Then, though a motion to accept was on the table, the board moved to reject Jandahl’s resignation, and the vote was again unanimous.

Jandahl then made a brief statement saying he only planned to stay in the position through the 2024-25 school year and saying he acknowledged he should have communicated better with the board and Elkton parents about the incident.

The board then presented the two new policies before adjourning.

The first, on guest speakers, would require teachers to research guest speakers and submit a form to the building principal prior to the proposed appearance.

The second states, in part, that the Elkton board does not “generally permit” sex offenders on school grounds but empowers the superintendent or their designee to “grant limited permission to attend certain activities on a case-by-case basis.”

The Elkton board offered a public comment period at the start of the meeting, but limited the time to 30 minutes. 

Six citizens signed up to speak, though many said they were doing so on behalf of others. 

Elkton faculty, wearing blue, had a letter read on their behalf in support of Jandahl and stood while it was delivered.

Four of six speakers urged the board to reject Jandahl’s offer to resign after a suitable replacement could be found — while another parent asked the board to reject Thompson’s resignation in favor of a termination.

The gathering was the second special meeting of the board in two weeks stemming from a grand jury indictment of Andrew K. Polly, 27, of Brookings, for allegedly being at the school illegally.

Polly, 27, is listed on the South Dakota sex offender registry as restricted from community safe zones. He was convicted of felony sexual contact with a minor under 16 in Union County in 2017.

Some Elkton parents found out about the incident from the story of the indictment that appeared in the Register, sparking controversy in the small town of around 750 residents about 20 miles east of Brookings.

According to an April 18 letter from Jandahl to Elkton parents and faculty, another teacher at Elkton discovered Polly was on the registry after he visited the school and reports were made to the Brookings County Sheriff’s Department and the Brookings County State’s Attorney’s office.

Loitering in a community safe zone —the statutorily defined charge — while a registered sex offender is a class 6 felony in South Dakota — the lowest level of felony charge. It is punishable by up to two years in prison, a $4,000 fine, or both.

A warrant was issued for Polly’s arrest and he was booked into the Brookings County Detention Center before being released. According to court records, he has retained Don McCarty of Brookings as counsel and has a first appearance scheduled for May 20.

The next regular meeting of the Elkton School Board is May 14 at 6 p.m.

Linehan is the Register’s managing editor and welcomes comments at jlinehan@brookingsregister.com