by Benjamin Chase
of the Plainsman
HURON –– US Representative Dusty Johnson (R-SD) visited Huron Monday as he toured the state, campaigning for the Republican nomination for governor during his time home from Congressional duties.
He hosted Huron School District Superintendent Dr. Kraig Steinhoff, Huron School Board President Tim Van Berkum, and Huron first-grade teacher Krissa Korkow, the district’s 2024/2025 elementary teacher of the year, as part of a forum at Spotlight Studio and Events on Dakota Ave. S., with roughly a dozen in attendance.
After introductions of the panelists and introducing those who were present in the audience as well, Johnson led off by asking the panelists what schools need to be considering over the next ten years.
“I think about our kids and what it is that we need to be helping them with to be successful for what their futures are, instead of successful for what we think will be the same future that we had when we were in school,” Steinhoff began. “We know the world is constantly changing and that the kids need to be adaptable. They need to do the basic skills in math, reading and science, but they also need to be able to communicate, to think critically, and I think it’s important to keep focusing on ways for kids to find areas that they are passionate about while they are in school.”
Steinhoff also discussed that schools are working in fairly isolated ways while watching business and industry find ways to work together to enhance strengths and reduce costs. He suggested that one thing districts will need to evaluate moving forward is how to keep costs reasonable while also offering growth opportunities for students, suggesting that working together with fellow school districts could be a way to accomplish this.
Van Berkum followed. He opened, “It used to be that you prepared kids to go to college. You got your diploma, went off to college, got your degree, and you found your niche in the world.”
Van Berkum spoke to the efforts that the Huron district has placed on career and technical education in the school district, referencing those who would be best-suited to attend a two-year or technical institution, join the military, or immediately join the workforce out of high school, as these educational groups have not previously received enough focus from districts in curriculum planning.
Korkow brought her focus to the environment students are encountering outside of the classroom.
“Basic needs have to be met before the academics,” she said. “Teachers have hair brushes, combs, and extra breakfast, and that all comes out of our pockets.”
She also mentioned the school district having extra clothing for children who may need it as well.
Johnson asked the three panelists if they would agree that a student’s outcome is heavily determined by parental involvement/engagement, and all three emphatically agreed.
Korkow was asked about the percentage of parents who show up for parent-teacher conferences by Johnson, and she replied that roughly 18 of a classroom of 23 would show up at some point for conferences, with a goal of hitting 100 percent attendance.
“And I’m not wrong in assuming the outcomes for the five are different from the 18?” Johnson inquired.
“Absolutely,” Korkow responded.
Classroom behavior was the next discussion. Steinhoff brought up the district’s work with Let’s Go Learn to track student behavior to inform the efforts of the district to help those students who are struggling behaviorally.
“We’re hoping that our partnership with people who are experts in this can help students be more successful in their school career,” Steinhoff expressed.
Johnson asked what sort of staffing is required, and Steinhoff stated that the district is hiring a board-certified behavioral analyst to work with students and teachers.
Reading was then discussed, and Steinhoff discussed the “Science of Reading” program that has been funded by the state for the Huron district. The program will devote additional reading education time to students who are behind, but Steinhoff stated that right now, how to implement the program to balance students getting extra reading education while still being able to participate in the rest of their classes with peers is a challenge that is being discussed among administrators and educators in the district.
A large amount of time was spent discussing homeschooling and state regulations being reduced to allow for homeschooling to be an option to avoid potential truancy or discipline for a child by parents.
State representative Kevin Van Diepen was in the audience, and he stated that this was discussed in legislative session, but the lobbyists for homeschooling within the state “forced” the initial sponsor of a bill to regulate and evaluate homeschooling in the state to withdraw that bill.
Johnson asked if the truancy- and discipline-based homeschool students who return to the district are affecting test numbers.
Korkow was quick to respond, “Absolutely. A student who leaves school in first grade then has their parents say ‘enough of you at home’ and sends the kid back in fourth grade…that child is still reading at a first grade level, but now they’re testing against fourth grade reading evaluations.”
The panel then discussed technology in the classroom, going from something that school districts worked very hard to ensure every student had access to, to where it’s now potentially a hindrance.
Steinhoff stated that the social media algorithms are designed to keep someone using the technology.
Johnson indicated that technology could very well be an area where schools have a “correction” moment coming in the near future and need to pull back.
An audience member mentioned that the school changing things with technology is only effective if things change at home. The panelists each agreed with that assertion.
Discussing parental involvement, the lack of parental engagement was heavily associated with addiction and substance abuse. Van Berkum expressed that the correlation between the two is very high.
Johnson closed out the forum as discussion reached a lull.
“This will be an ongoing statewide conversation. We’re going to do a lot more of these,” he said. “We all get it; there’s not a magic bullet where we could spent $100 million on something, then all of the kids would be fixed. It’s a lot more complicated, and there are a lot more factors.”
“We’ve got some work to do.”
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