BROOKINGS – The Brookings School Board voted unanimously Monday to appoint Wesley Tschetter to a one-year term to the board, filling a spot left when Jennifer Lacher-Starace resigned in May.
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BROOKINGS – The Brookings School Board voted unanimously Monday to appoint Wesley Tschetter to a one-year term to the board, filling a spot left when Jennifer Lacher-Starace resigned in May.
Tschetter will be sworn in at the July school board meeting.
He’s somewhat a familiar face on the school board, having served on it for 12 years in the past.
“I think I can offer something to this board relative to my experience with the board for 12 years and my other experience as a chief financial officer of South Dakota State University that manages many functions and facilities from human resources to the budget and finances functions. I would like to contribute to that in a constructive manner. The board is not management and shouldn’t act in that role, and I feel strongly about that. I think I can contribute from the board level without managing as I am in my day-to-day job.”
He listed as concerns the re-establishment of consensus with the community regarding school district resources.
“I like to view it as there’s a sweet spot out there: A sweet spot relative to the financial need of this district, a sweet spot relative to the community support, a sweet spot relative to unanimous support from the board, staff, teachers,” Tschetter said. Though he admitted that finding that “sweet spot” is no easy task, “it can be done.”
The topic of budgets came up again later in the interview, and Tschetter cited his previous school board experience.
“I don’t have any preconceived notions about what we would subtract. But I will say that there are always things that emerge that are higher priority and lower priority. I deal with this regularly,” he said. “You have to base your decisions on metrics, something that helps you get an idea of what the reality is.”
Tschetter was one of three people interested in the position. Also applying for the post were Michelle Powers and Larry Rogers.
Rogers had served for seven years on the school board before opting not to run for re-election in the spring of 2017.
Powers worked in the Brookings School District for 12 years as the director of special education; however, due to sudden and unexpected personal circumstances, Powers was not able to make it to the meeting to be interviewed. The school board instead took what she had submitted in her application into account when making its decision.
Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.
SDSU photo
