Last August, when some of our local school board members voted themselves a raise ($75 to $166) they chose to use mendacious propaganda! Maybe lying to the public and the taxpayers who paid for a 121% raise (for the board members), is normal. Throughout the two short videos, we continue to hear what’s “normal!”
Just wanted to clear up some of the lies with proof that we were lied to!
We hear in the videos taking the max is the norm. NO IT IS NOT! SD has about 148 school districts, 4 districts took the raise! That’s not the norm to take the raise! We are told that all districts took the raise including Douglas, Meade, Deadwood/Lead. NO THEY DID NOT! Look at the pictures off these school districts websites, none of them took the full amount! Only 4 districts did in our whole state! Do your homework before choosing to tell the community misinformation! Then it’s ok to clarify to the public that you were wrong!!
We are told take the max is the norm, no it wasn’t!Only four districts out of a 148 districts in SD took the full $166. That’s not the norm!!!!
The video says the board took a look at what other districts have done and the language they used and did nearly the same. HMMM 
another lie, NO districts around Rapid City, that are taxpayer funded took the full raise, in fact some stayed the same as they have been for decades, do your research!!
another lie, NO districts around Rapid City, that are taxpayer funded took the full raise, in fact some stayed the same as they have been for decades, do your research!!The video says the board isn’t here for the money, but if there was any truth to that they would have voted the raise for the upcoming board not themselves! When you vote for a raise and you have been on any board for only a month, it sure makes it look like you’re there for the money!
Vote June 3rd to bring back fiscally conservative minded school board members who want to empower students, teachers and parents! Currently, the state Dept of Education, shows RCAS failing in reading, mathematics and science. We can do better for our kids and community!
Thank you Angela Bradsky Rafferty (area 3) and Brian Johnson (area 6) for running!
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Have you ever been falsely accused of something that you never said or did? Some in our community is experiencing this exact nightmare. Yet, people chose to continued with the blasphemy! I think we can all raise a hand to being in that position at some point in life!
This hit close to home for my friend, Nicole Swigart. She worked in the Rapid City school district in numerous capacities for the past 33 years. As I have reached out to many teachers, I have not had a single teacher that hasn’t shared a special way that Nicole impacted their career, helped influence their skills, nurtured their growth as a teacher and the positive impact she made through out our local schools! Parents have poured out support with how she was an effective teacher who cared about every student! Former students of different ethnicities have praised her!
Her heart has always been big, she’s always had compassion and love for each and every student she was blessed to have. She was passionate about teaching children how to be life long successes no matter the challenges they were in! She believed in each child knowing their potential was limitless! The bonds she formed between parents, the community and the school district was one that will be remembered as genuine and professional at every level and can not be replaced! Her character raised the bar that this district has experienced very little of in the current or past with people that have tried to lead RCAS! Nicole led with devotion, fairness, integrity, transparency but most importantly, honesty in all things!
Fast forward to when the Biden Admin chose to go after parents who spoke up for their children at school board meetings, some Christian’s were labeled and attacked for their beliefs as hate crimes, some people of different ethnicity were given free will to do anything they wanted even if it meant breaking laws. Reparations in many forms were freely handed out to many when people cried out discrimination. When a local group who has been labeled by many in our small community as rogue desperados, decided they were offended and wanted ill gained justice from anyone and anything. Offended, they were welcomed by the Biden Admin with blessings and they chose to go after the Superintendent of our schools. Choices were made behind the scenes with some of the duplicitous school board members. They also began to faithfully show up at open meetings making a scene at times. They would call people in the audience names or name people (not allowed in open forum) in the board meetings yet the President of the board would not address any of the meeting policies that were being broken by this group. Some would argue that trepidation held them back from following through with policy.
The Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education was behind the scenes was also working with this group as well as some of the board members. Racial controversy became the unsupported asseverations against Nicole including things she did not say. The Federal group had interviewed Swigart on a Teams call. Oddly, a government entity never recorded or had professional transcripts available for the conversation and never had any proof of the claims. Yet, some of the disingenuous board members didn’t care about our Constitutional rights of being innocent until proven guilty! They took the claim by the OCR as unvarnished truth even though no proof existed! Where’s the justice?!? Who’s next on the board’s hit list? Who will they just accuse of something they may or may not have done or said and then ruin them physically, mentally and psychologically as we spread malfeasance throughout countless news media outlets, social media and the list goes on! That’s not America! Thats not how people are treated! These school board members took an oath to uphold our Constitutions! Where’s the due process? Where’s the proof? Oh wait, there was none! They still fired her August 13, 2024 in order to acquiesce to the demands by a local miscreant organization.
Today, Nicole Swigart, chose to get due process by filing a lawsuit against RCAS, six individual board members who chose to accuse with nothing but hearsay, and the power of the RC School Board! The lawsuit includes 11 counts of complaints. What you do to others, will come back to you! It was amusing to some then, hope the same people still find this risable as the tables are turned for uprightness!
After serving our district for 33 years in different capacities including teacher, administrator, principal and superintendent, Nicole withstood the hatred, the lies, the shattered career and the false accusations. Now it’s her turn to tell her story!
Let the veracity reign! Let justice finally be served!
