HURON — South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem spent nearly two hours on Wednesday afternoon meeting with Huron school parents.

She was very pleased with the response she got from the “diverse” group of parents that she met with.

“We had a great conversation,” Noem said. “I think it was a real candid discussion about the re-opening of schools, getting kids back into schools, and what that will all look like.”

One parent, who asked not to be identified and who was part of the conversation echoed Noem’s sentiments, saying “It was a good format for parents, teachers, and administrators to get their concerns and comments out there. There were a lot of good points brought up on both sides of the masking issue.”

Noem reiterated that “only about 70% of the reading and 50% of the math learning happened” that was possible when students were out of the classroom last year.

She stated that getting students into the classroom and working with their teachers is vital to student learning while also giving families flexibility to teach from home if there is safety concern as well.

“Last year, we were caught kind of flat-footed with distance education,” another parent involved in the discussion expressed.

“The plans are so much better this year if we do have to have kids out of the classroom with one shared platform throughout the school district and new iPads to help kids connect as well.”

The governor discussed extracurricular activities, including sports and events like All-State Chorus, stating that the South Dakota High School Activities Association has reviewed a number of potential options to ensure students have the opportunity to participate this fall, whether that means limited or no spectators, forced social distancing, or other measures to ensure students can participate.

Noem said, “I’m a big believer they (extra-curricular activities like sports) are a teaching mechanism to develop leaders of the future.”

Each parent or school representative who was in the room Wednesday expressed that they were impressed by Governor Noem’s willingness to listen to each person in the room and give all opinions equal air time.

One parent expressed, “She did a lot more listening than talking.”

When asked if anything heard Wednesday surprised her, Noem was very quick to respond:

“No, I would say this was a diverse opinion group. They came from different angles on every issue, and that was incredibly helpful for me,” Noem exclaimed.

“The number one thing I loved was everybody was concerned about the health of their kids.”