HURON — The Huron School Board of Education held its regular meeting Monday evening. School Board member Shelly Siemonsma let the public know she is seeking reelection.

“I’m very grateful for this opportunity to let you know that I will be seeking reelection come April for this particular seat and I’m truly grateful for having been able to serve the Huron Community over the last several years and I’m humble to continue to serve with this board and the board leaders of the school district,” said Siemonsma. The deadline for filing nominations for the School Board election is Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. The School Board election will be held April 11.

Five groups were approved for grant funding. ESL Summer School for summer reading BINGO for students K-7;  eighth grade science department, to replenish yearly lab supplies; Huron Middle School to publish a book for each seventh-grade writing student for their 2023-2024 school year; and Buchanan K-1 Center for a microwave for teachers and students to heat up various items for lunch, and popcorn for class, etc.  

The Good News Report for the McKinley Learning Center was presented by Marisa Krekelberg, Alyssa Aker, Destinni Girton, Megan McFarland, Courtney Frankenstein, Gail Styer and McKinley Learning Center parent. There are two major indicators not being met at state level, with one being performance and one being the restricted environment, so the move to McKinley was the perfect choice.

In the 2020-21 school year, they started the school year with 25 students and ended the year with 52.

For the 2021-22 school year, they started with 36 students and ended the year with 57 students. This year they have started the school with 37 students and currently have 41 with 10 students expected to be added by March 1, bringing the total to 51.

With the increase in staff the school is able to provide for Birth to Three (service for children from birth to 36 months of age with developmental delays) who had been previously meeting at the children’s home. The children are now getting a significant amount of hours and minutes that are making huge differences to the child’s learning, communication and speech. The staff shared that the move has given them more growth for the students, smaller class sizes so the teacher is able to get to spend more time with each student, Child led play, and working on occupational and physical therapy, calendar time, speech time, and many more activities, developing a better relationship with the students and the parents.

Business Manager Kelly Christoperson presented the Huron School District Facilities Report. With past projects starting in 2005 with Huron Arena renovations and locker room additions, to 2022 being the CTE Addition. The current and future projects are: Tiger Activity Center roof insulation, Huron Arena electric motors on bleachers, Huron School Food Service freezer, Tiger Stadium track surface, Madison and Washington Elementary playground improvements with a total capital outlay of $1.2 million. Future projects would be: CTE and HS expansion, high school classroom renovations, middle school expansion, McKinley classroom renovations, transportation building gaining additional space, Huron Arena and Tiger Stadium Scoreboards, elementary classroom and Auxiliary Services expansion and Buchanan Elementary parking and traffic flow, with a total future project cost of $46 million.

Heather Rozell Madison Elementary Principal presented the January Employee of the Month award to ESL Para Educator at Madison 2-3 Center Kyle Will.

The next school board meeting will be held Monday, Feb. 13, in the IPC room located on the second floor of Huron Arena. The public is encouraged to attend.