Meet the candidates for Sioux Falls School Board

Megan Raposa -

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories ahead of the May 13 Sioux Falls school board election. Keep following Sioux Falls Simplified for more.

Simplified: Four people are vying for two open seats on the Sioux Falls School Board, which oversees the largest school district in the state. Sioux Falls Simplified sat down with each of them to ask a series of questions about their motivation to run, their priorities and everything else you need to know ahead of the May 13 election.

Why it matters

  • The Sioux Falls school board oversees a district with nearly 25,000 students, 1,800 teachers and an annual budget of over $350 million. So, whoever is elected will have a direct impact on thousands of people in the community (as well as how everyone's tax dollars are spent).
  • This year, the school board race is in a standalone election, i.e. there aren't any city-wide races or issues on the ballot. Historically, standalone school board elections have very low voter turnout – the last one in 2023 saw only 6% of voters cast a ballot.
  • Regardless of the outcome, Sioux Falls will have at least one new face on the school board. Current board chair Carly Reiter is not seeking re-election, leaving Nan Kelly as the only incumbent of the four candidates. Other candidates are Elizabeth Duffy, Trish Ringold and Thomas Werner.

Tell me more about the candidates

Note: Candidates are listed in the order they'll appear on the ballot. Responses are edited for length and clarity.

Elizabeth Duffy

Age: 42

Occupation: Attorney

Why did you decide to run for office? My kids have had such a positive experience in the Sioux Falls School District. I want to make sure every kid has an experience like that and has those opportunities and is met with the same care and concern. That's really my number one is to take those positive experiences and amplify them for other families.

What is your top priority? Funding is going to be my number one. The Sioux Falls School District is in cut mode right now for the first time in years. ... Safeguarding that vital funding is going to be my top priority and something we have to engage all of our stakeholders on.

  • The work that's been done on the budget has been extraordinary so far, and we'll need people that are going to dig in.

Trish Ringold

Age: 47

Occupation: Lead toddler teacher at Abiding Savior Academy

Why did you decide to run for office? I've been thinking about it for a couple years. My youngest just moved out recently, so I now have the opportunity to put 110% into the school board if I am elected.

What is your top priority? My biggest thing is bullying – I want every kid to know that they are safe to learn. That goes along with their parents as well ... I want their parents to be able to feel like they have a safe space to come to the school district and say, 'Hey my child said this about so-and-so,' we can take care of it, and there's no retaliation.

  • The other big one is funding for the school district. As everybody knows, the federal government is wanting to close down the Department of Education ... I feel like we need to be proactive and figure out a way we are going to make up the funding.
  • The third one is I would love to have free school lunches for everybody. These kids need to learn, and in order for them to learn successfully, they need to have full bellies.

Nan Kelly

Age: 50

Occupation: Business development

Why did you decide to run for office? I value education. It's part of what I live and breathe because it gives kids opportunities – all kids. So, to the extent that we're giving kids, families, opportunity, it impacts Sioux Falls and our region through a skilled and educated workforce that's critically important for economic development.

What is your top priority? Number one, with the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and those funds coming to the state level, I see the need for Sioux Falls to be a bridge to our state and local public officials. We really need to come together in a bipartisan way, and that is historically what education has been about.

  • Number two, we really need to address the root cause of teacher pay ... including keeping class sizes small.
  • We (also) need to continue to watch student achievement, that informs what our programs are looking at.
    • When a student shows up to school, how do they come best prepared to learn for the day? Things happen outside of the school day, but what we can do as a school district is educate families about the importance of a consistent meal time, a consistent bedtime routine and a morning routine. With those three things, a child will show up ready to learn.

Thomas Werner

Age: 49

Occupation: Works for Sanford Health, part-time martial arts instructor

Why did you decide to run for office? I feel like as a parent in the trenches, I can very well connect with others and know any frustrations they might have. I also recently went back to school at Southeast Tech for respiratory therapy. We have a lot of dual credit students, so I've gotten to experience that, and that's kind of what really solidified the decision for me.

What is your top priority? One of the other things that really solidified my decision to run and put some priority is the legislative wrap-up meeting the school board had. It seems to me there's so much frustration with Pierre and everything like that, and I think I can help bridge that gap.

  • I've run for South Dakota House in District 6 before, unsuccessfully, but in that I really got to meet a lot of the legislators that are still in play. I talk with them on a regular basis about different things, and I really feel that I could help bridge that gap and hopefully tone down some of those frustrations and have more of an attitude of working with legislators than having a rubber band reaction of just being mad.