daycare

Supporters tour Panther Cubs Academy in Platte during a fundraiser weekend. (Courtesy photo)

Child care shortage drives construction contractor to create his own solution

BY: - September 17, 2023

Platte has been good to Tyler Samuelson and his family.  Over the past 15 years, the owner of Summit Contracting has seen his family’s business grow into the largest employer in the south-central South Dakota town.  Lately, Platte’s meager 1,300 population has become a problem for the growing business, which manufactures “anything on the farm […]

(Getty Images)

Statewide high school course trains students to become child care workers

BY: - July 7, 2023

There are 12,260 licensed child care slots in Sioux Falls, but 64% of child care centers can’t enroll their licensed capacity because they don’t have enough workers, according to the Sioux Falls Childcare Collaborative. That cuts actual available slots by hundreds — and it’s a familiar situation across the state. The collaborative presented the results […]

Kerri Tietgen, center, the CEO of EmBe in Sioux Falls, speaks during a hearing on proposed changes to South Dakota's rules for child care providers. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Early childhood groups come out against proposed daycare rules

BY: - May 12, 2023

Child care organizations came out in force on Friday against looser rules for daycares that would let adults care for more children at once. The pushback came even as some daycare providers lauded the changes as “actionable” steps to address what they described as the state’s child care crisis. Among other adjustments, the proposal from […]