HURON — In a special meeting held at noon on Tuesday, the Huron School Board formally approved the hiring of Heather DeBoer as its next Buchanan K-1 Center Principal.

She will replace long time Buchanan Principal Peggy Heinz, who passed away late last year. Administrator James Cutshaw was appointed by the school board in February to complete the school year.

DeBoer comes to Huron after four years as the Principal of Roosevelt Elementary in the Watertown School District. Prior to that experience, she served as a Physical Education and Kindergarten teacher in Pierre. Her first professional experience was as a Kindergarten teacher in Venezuela.

She was born and raised in Kansas and attended college at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, where she was a member of the UNK swim team. She has a wide variety of cultural experiences from which to draw, which the board fells will add to making her asset to the Huron School District.

DeBoer has a strong reputation for enhancing the school climate through her leadership and ability to develop strong connections among all stakeholders. She uses a variety of trainings and strategies to work with student behaviors and has had success in decreasing them in the schools in which she has worked. She is also known for the positive energy she brings to her school building every day.

DeBoer is nearing completion of her doctoral program in Educational Leadership and Learning through Aspen University, with a research focus on collective efficacy and student behaviors and plans to finish her dissertation by December 2024.

While working on her doctorate, she was inducted into the National Society of Leadership and Success Honor Society.

According to her bio, DeBoer is a second-generation administrator with a deep appreciation for the value of education and is an advocate for role of public school. She currently serves on the Watertown Junior Achievement board, Community Childcare Committee, South Dakota Teammates Mentoring Program board, and holds a leadership position in the SDAESP Northeast Area Principals group.

She and her husband, Scott, the recently hired Huron School District Activities Director, have three children, Colton, JayLee, and Trajan, and are expecting their fourth child in April.