South Dakota schools

An apartment complex on the Rosebud Reservation has drifts of snow blocking the doors and windows on Dec. 27, 2022. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

SD school districts find compromise between snow days and online learning post-COVID

BY: - April 26, 2023

Whether they sleep with a spoon under their pillow or turn their pajamas inside out – two rituals purported to bring about a snow day – South Dakota students haven’t lost the magic of a serendipitous day off from school. And if school districts across the state have anything to say about it, they’ll always […]

A person climbs the stairs of the South Dakota Capitol. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

Panel backs proposal to require law enforcement to inform schools of suspected criminal activity by students

BY: - January 24, 2023

A Senate panel endorsed a bill that would require law enforcement to inform school officials when a student is suspected of violating the law. Current law says officers “may” report their suspicions to school officials. Opponents and several members of the juvenile justice summer study committee said most school districts already communicate well with law […]

Photo of the MIssouri River in Chamberlain South Dakota (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Chamberlain School ordered to pay $100,000 to family of disabled child

BY: - December 1, 2022

A federal judge has ordered the Chamberlain School District to pay nearly $100,000 to the family of a child with disabilities to cover the cost of the child’s special education. The judgment affirms the earlier conclusions of a hearing examiner who had ordered the district to reimburse parents Judith and Michael Steckelberg for the tuition […]

Students arrive at Patrick Henry Middle School in Sioux Falls on Oct. 25, 2022.

Education report card: South Dakota students above national average, on par with neighbors

BY: - October 25, 2022

South Dakota students have lost ground in math and reading since 2019, according to the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), but outperformed students in many other states. The NAEP is billed as the nation’s report card by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. The 2022 report, released Monday, offered […]