HURON — At Monday night’s meeting, School Board President Garrett Bischoff reminded the community that Wednesday will be Early Release and no school until Tuesday, Sept. 5, due to the S.D. State Fair and Labor Day Holiday.

Superintendent Kraig Steinhoff presented his report to the board, addressing that School Resource Officer Vaitohi will be on leave for training from mid-September to April, and Detective Lark will be filling her position until she returns.

Steinhoff also noted that the South Dakota Dept. of Education announced two grant cycles for CTE Collaborative Equipment Grant.

“SB59, introduced by Senator David Wheeler, makes this grant possible,” Steinhoff added. “The funding is intended to support and modernize career and technical education programs across South Dakota for multiple school districts that collaborate to expand CTE opportunities to more students.”

The first cycle is due Oct. 6 and the second cycle is due April 26, 2024.

Steinhoff said the first day of school at the high school was a busy day for the kitchen staff. They served 339 students in 28 minutes. “My hat’s off to Food Service Director, Amanda Reilly and the food service staff,” said Steinhoff.

Director of ESL Jolene Kohneche presented her good news report to the board. She said Kindergarten through fifth grade will continue the reading Bingo they had last year as it was a really big hit.

“One book is sent home with every student as well as a Bingo card. They complete a square of the Bingo, the parent initials it, and when they get a Bingo they bring the card in and they get a prize, and when they get a black out they get another book,” said Koneche. “Just an incentive to read at home and get that love for reading.”  

Katie Becker, with JLG Architects, presented her facility planning report. She shared an update on what their process was. Becker explains they began doing tours of all the buildings and began building assessments last spring.

Overall, the district buildings are in good physical condition. Minor interior and exterior damage/necessary updates are present at most buildings, but generally does not interfere with operations. The buildings meet educational needs with minor accessibility challenges present across buildings. Rooms are generally well sized for the ideal class size. People feel welcome and find the buildings easy to navigate and they enjoy the people. The number one concern of occupants is temperature control. Air quality, access to natural light and safety/security are the next highest concerns.  

With McKinley Learning Center, Becker said that most notable improvements include exterior envelope, landscaping, interior finishes and asbestos. The boiler is nearing end of life and the electrical is in fair condition.

The class rooms are well sized to support programming, but accessibility updates are needed. The lows were electrical plug access, temperature, air quality, training in case of a threat, bathrooms, lack of staff space and outdated parking.

Buchanan K-1 Center’s main lows were temperature control, feeling safe, amount of training, rooms are too small for group work and moving around, sewer smell, lighting is too bright and the restrooms. There were no significant concerns for mechanical to electrical systems as the building was recently updated in 2016.

Madison 2-3 Center faced some concerns with several of their systems such as the boiler, vents, and sanitary and domestic water lines reaching end of useful life.

Washington 4-5 Center was noted to have several problems as the boiler, sanitary and domestic water lines are reaching end of useful life.

Middle School had mechanical updated in 2021, but the boiler is nearing end of life. Electrical is in fair condition, with one of the lows being charging chrome books is a challenge and the size/layout of building.

Huron Hugh School had mechanical systems updated in 2020. Electrical is in fair condition, with the lows being temperature, air quality, acoustics, layout and age.

CTE Building is in good condition, but many mechanical and electrical systems are nearing end of life and original to the building that was from 1976.

Transportation Building has significant exterior damage to metal panels and doors, but overall no concerns with interiors or mechanical.