HURON — After getting snowed out the previous night, the Huron Board of Education formally contracted with Puetz Design+Build to oversee the upcoming Huron High School Addition and Remodel project, as the Construction Manager at Risk (CMR) for the school district.

In its capacity as CMR, Puetz will work with JLG Architects, who will design the project, and will handle all of the required bidding and construction oversight, including working with the subcontractors on the project. All bids are reviewed by and must be approved by the school board, after which Puetz is responsible for completing the project within the bid parameters. According to school district Business Manager Kelly Christopherson, “that is the risk,” part of the agreement.

Per the contract, Elliott Coughlin will become the project manager and Jim Weber is the project executive. Both are Puetz employees. The contract calls for a $30,000 pre-construction phase payment and the construction manager’s fee is contracted at 4% of construction costs.

While the CMR position is one new endeavor, another relatively new undertaking is paying dividends already, according to Heather Rozell, the principal at the Madison 2-3 Center.

Rozell, as well as Madison teachers Angel Hovde, Holly Cundy and Kate Ashbaugh spoke on the effectiveness of the hiring of Huron High School students to assist as teacher’s aides in the classroom.

Rozell said that the program is beneficial to the high school students, who are able to help out in a classroom setting, which may assist them in determining whether to go into education as a career. The elementary students benefit from having older students to work with and the teachers benefit as well, by having an extra set of hands in their classroom.

Students Kaiden Caudell, Nakia Mohr, MacKenzie Hershman and Alivia Cunard also spoke on their experiences and how working at Madison fits into their schedule.

Transportation Director Kathie Bostrom was unable to attend the meeting on Tuesday, so Christopherson stepped and presented the Classified Employee of the Month award to Rollie Hotchkin, a substitute bus driver for the school district. As part of the presentation, Christopherson read from Hotchkin’s nomination form, stating, “Rollie takes care of each bus load of students like they are his own….He doesn’t care if a task may inconvenience him in some way. Rollie’s attitude is as long as it is what is best for the students. He is an unfailing professional.”

As part of his Superintendent’s report, Dr. Kraig Steinhoff noted that the snow day taken on Monday will be made up May 16, with the scheduled early release moved one day later, to May 17.

The board approved Workman’s Compensation and Health Insurance renewals with the Associated School Boards of South Dakota. Christopherson noted that after a healthy longevity credit, the district’s workman’s compensation premium for the 2024-25 school year will be $158,174 and its health insurance premium will take a modest 2% increase.

In other action, the school board:
• Approved seven new hires, three resignations and one new contract approval - for James Cutshaw, Sr., as the new assistant principal of the high school

• Approved representatives of the Maintenance, Grounds & Custodial; Food Service; Full-time, Related Services Therapy Assistants and Para Educators for the purposes of negotiations.
• Approved the appointment of 10 individuals to a pair of election boards for the upcoming municipal/school board election on April 9.
• Approved grant funding application permissions for five different teachers.
• Approved two open enrollment requests.
• Approved a second reading of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota recommended policy on school employee military leave.