South Dakota
I wanted to stay here because I wanted to help here.
Editor’s note: This is the ninth in a series of stories on children that Jackie Hendry, producer and host of SDPB’s “South Dakota Focus” is writing for South Dakota News Watch. Each month, she previews the upcoming show.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Thousands of South Dakota high schoolers are planning their first steps into adulthood this graduation season. Some may follow relatives into the family business of farming, law or teaching. Others, like Cordelia Rieck of Sioux Falls, plan to join the family business of raising families.
The number of day cares in South Dakota has almost halved since 2009, from 1,195 to 646 in 2020, according to the Kids Count Data Center. As conversations about the lack of child care access and affordability intensify across the state, the Rieck family is among the dozens of families in South Dakota that run in-home or family day cares. That journey began years before Cordelia was born.
After Karen Rieck and husband Justin moved to Sioux Falls, they went to see a movie. Karen had a few years of experience with child care at that time.
“Oddly enough, we had gone to see ‘Daddy Day Care’ in the theater,” said Karen. “And that’s what got my brain going. Like, ‘Really, you can do this. You can do child care out of your home. You don’t have to run a center.’”
A week later, the Riecks were creating a business plan. That was 21 years ago.
Today, Mrs. Karen’s House Childcare and Preschool is a state-registered family day care with capacity for a dozen children. When the “South Dakota Focus” team visited in April, the children’s ages ranged from 6 years to a pair of 5-month-old twins. Karen said the in-home setting emphasizes a feeling of family, which was attractive when she and her husband started the venture.
“Family in general is important to us, and we want to be able to instill that with the kids that we help raise,” she said.
In fact, a connection made through one of their clients helped the Riecks expand their own family. They’d previously been told having children would be difficult, if not impossible, based on some health complications. Then, in the early days of their child care operation, they watched the child of a pharmacy assistant.
“She’s the one who introduced me to a physician who was able to figure out what was wrong,” Karen remembered with a smile. “Needed some help, but I have four kids now.”
‘I’ve always had somebody to play with!’
Those kids have grown up alongside the kids who attend Mrs. Karen’s House Childcare and Preschool. The Reicks’ firstborn is Cordelia. She graduates from Sioux Falls Roosevelt High School this month.
“She was born into family child care,” said Karen. “We literally had her on a Thursday at 6:27 p.m. and our doors were open on Monday.”
“Well, I’ve never had a bad experience of going to somebody else’s day care,” Cordelia explained matter-of-factly. “I always had somebody to play with!”
Cordelia still plays and helps with the day care kids before and after school.
“I come back and all of them, they bombard me at the stairs. I don’t even make it up the stairs, and they’re just all over me. It’s great,” she said.
When it came time to decide what to do after high school, Cordelia knew one thing for sure: “I just wanted to help people. I didn’t care how.”
As a child, she’d considered being a doctor or veterinarian. Today, she shudders at the math and science involved.
“And I was like, ‘You know, I want to help people. I can help children.’ Because first of all, I love children and children usually love me because I am a child,” Cordelia joked.
Few early childhood degree options
South Dakota does not require child care providers to hold higher education credentials for licensing purposes. But research demonstrates a relationship between a child’s earliest years and their future learning outcomes, so many providers and parents want to see child care staff with some level of specialized education.
Are government subsidies the solution to the child care crisis? Lawmakers weigh options.
Legislative leaders agree that the ongoing child care crisis in South Dakota represents a significant workforce problem. Advocates are worried they lack a sense of urgency.
Some child care and preschool providers have begun requiring a one-year Child Development Associate as a minimum credential to lead a classroom, though there are more intensive options.
South Dakota State University in Brookings offers the only four-year degree specialization in early childhood education in the state. Northern State University in Aberdeen began offering a two-year associate degree in early childhood education last year, along with scholarships sponsored by the state Department of Social Services.
Ultimately, Cordelia decided on an early childhood specialist associate degree from Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls.
“I wanted to stay here because I wanted to help here,” she explained.
Cordelia acknowledges that none of her high school classmates are considering a career in child care.
“They go, ‘I’m not having kids, so why does that pertain to me?’” she said. “It’s really irritating sometimes because sometimes they’re really arrogant about it.”
Recent coverage of low wages for child care providers likely doesn’t help.
In 2021, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said child care workers earn in the bottom 2% of occupations in the nation. That has contributed to staff burnout, which perpetuates the lack of child care providers. A 2022 report from South Dakota’s Department of Social Services put the turnover rate of direct care staff at 88 percent. However, that same report shows the lowest turnover rate among group family day care providers, at 60 percent. It’s unclear the turnover rate for registered family day cares like the Riecks’.
Karen Rieck believes her daughter has seen both the challenges and the benefits of running a family day care.
“Having Justin and I both home all the time, she actually got to have us here,” she explained. “She had that friend group here that she grew up with. … I think she also sees on those days when it’s 30-below and we’re standing here with our hot cup of coffee and people are coming to us, and we didn’t have to go out in that. There’s perks to that.”
As excited as Karen is to have Cordelia follow in her footsteps, she’s also excited for her to blaze her own trail.
“To go from being someone who never thought I would have kids, to Cordelia … we thought we were losing her at 12 weeks,” Karen said through tears. “I’ve seen her grow up and just become an amazing person, and even when she turned 18, that was so hard for me. She doesn’t need her mommy anymore! Part of that moving into the child care world, she’s still gonna need me, but I want her to do her own thing and create who she is.”
In the meantime, Cordelia looks forward to high school graduation and the next steps – even if few of her peers are working toward the same goal.
“The average teenager does not care at all. It’s kind of sad because they don’t have any of the childlike experiences after their childhood. I get to experience them every single day,” she said.
South Dakota’s teacher shortage a matter of pay and pipeline While the Legislature works to address teacher pay, groups like Educators Rising tap current students to consider a future career in education
How to watch ‘South Dakota Focus’ on SDPB
The next episode of “South Dakota Focus” airs on Thursday, May 23, at 8 p.m. Central time / 7 p.m. Mountain time. It can be viewed on SDPB-TV 1, Facebook, YouTube and SD.net.
The episode includes:
- A Build Dakota scholarship winner graduating from the surgical tech program
- A youth center in Fort Thompson providing job and mentorship opportunities
- Stories from South Dakota high schoolers on what’s next after graduation
Editor’s note: If you cite the results of this poll, credit South Dakota News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy, per copyright law and our republishing policy.
PIERRE, S.D. – With seven weeks until the June 2 primary, U.S. House Rep. Dusty Johnson is close to avoiding a runoff in the race to secure the GOP nomination for governor, according to a new poll sponsored by South Dakota News Watch and the Chiesman Center for Democracy at the University of South Dakota.
In the contests for U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, state Attorney General Marty Jackley and U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds have solid leads over their challengers.
The scientific survey of 500 registered Republicans, conducted April 7-11 by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy, found Johnson leading the four-way contest for governor with 34% of likely GOP primary voters supporting his candidacy.
The other three candidates are effectively tied for second due to the margin of error being plus-or-minus 4.5%. State House Speaker Jon Hansen, of Dell Rapids, has 18% support from GOP voters, and Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden and Gov. Larry Rhoden both have 17%. Roughly 14% of those surveyed were undecided.
South Dakota Election Voter Guide
Everything South Dakota voters need to know about statewide contests in the primary and general elections.
If no candidate receives at least 35% of the vote on the June 2 ballot, a runoff between the top two finishers will take place July 28. The winner of the contest will meet Democrat Dan Ahlers in the Nov. 3 general election.
Rhoden’s support drops; Hansen surges
While Johnson, who grew up in Pierre and lives in Mitchell, saw a 6-point increase from the News Watch/Chiesman poll conducted last October, Rhoden’s support fell 10 points.
Julia Hellwege, director of the Chiesman Center and USD associate professor in political science, said Rhoden’s association with his predecessor, former Gov. Kristi Noem, could be behind the drop in poll numbers.
“He has aligned himself closely with Noem. They worked closely together, and he continues to champion her and stand by her,” she said. “There’s a potential that has been a side effect.”
Rhoden served as lieutenant governor under Noem and became governor in January 2025 when President Donald Trump made her secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He fired her last month after severe criticism.
Hellwege pointed out the poll found that Johnson even leads in West River, a stronghold for Rhoden, who is from Union Center east of Sturgis.
She said one candidate more than any other has been the main beneficiary of the declining support for the sitting governor.
“Anyone shifting from Rhoden is more likely to shift towards Hansen,” Hellwege said, noting that Hansen is a state lawmaker, like Rhoden was, who plays up his conservative Christian credentials.
Hellwege said in comparing the new poll results with those from last year, a certain pattern can be seen. That includes the surge in support for Hansen and Johnson, a decline in support for Rhoden, a stable level of support for Doeden and a lower number of undecided voters.
“My interpretation is many Rhoden voters in the last poll shifted to Hansen voters and the undecideds went to Johnson,” Hellwege said.
SD governor: Johnson in driver’s seat
Hellwege highlighted the extent to which the math favors Johnson.
“Even if all the undecided voters go to one of those second-place candidates, plus if you factor in the margin of error, they still would barely reach where Johnson is sitting right now,” Hellwege said.
Brad Coker, founder of Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy, ranked as one of the least-biased and most-factual pollsters, also believes Johnson is in a comfortable position.
“Johnson is moving into the clear front-runner status,” he said.
“People know him. People like him, and that’s probably why he’s ahead right now. Whether he can hold on to that will depend on what the other campaigns – particularly Hansen’s – are able to do in the coming weeks,” Coker told News Watch, pointing to the poll results that found Johnson has a 47% favorability rating, the highest of any of the candidates.
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Coker said Hansen has the best chance to challenge Johnson not only because his candidacy has seen the biggest increase in support but also due to not many people knowing him – yet.
“Hansen’s name recognition is only 73%. He’s still got 27% of the voters who don’t know who he is, which I think gives him a much higher ceiling than Doeden and Rhoden,” Coker said. “That tells me Hansen is getting some traction.”
On the flip side, Doeden’s 35% unfavorable rating and high name recognition indicate his support has mostly peaked, Coker said.
“He has a higher negative rating than positive rating, which tells me he’s got a core group behind him, but his growth potential is far more limited, especially since he has 89% name recognition,” Coker said.
The poll was conducted after the four candidates met in the March 31 KELO-TV debate but before the April 13 SDPB and South Dakota News Watch forum.
US House: Jackley has comfortable lead
Since Johnson ran for governor, that opened up South Dakota’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In that contest, Jackley – who is from Sturgis and previously served as U.S. attorney for the District of South Dakota – has a comfortable lead toward securing the GOP nomination.
According to the poll, he has 68% support from South Dakota Republican voters surveyed, well ahead of challenger James Bialota Jr., who has 12%, with 20% of respondents undecided.
“This primary is definitely in Jackley’s favor, even if all the undecideds move to Bialota,” Hellwege said.
The winner will face Democrat Nicole “Nikki” Gronli in the November general election.
US Senate: Incumbent Rounds ahead by large margin
Rounds – who’s from Pierre and was South Dakota’s governor from 2003 to 2011 – also enjoys a sizable lead over his challenger.
He received 66% support from GOP voters surveyed, compared to 18% for challenger Justin McNeal, with 16% of respondents undecided.
“The fact that McNeal, who is vastly outspent by Rounds, is able to get up to 18% is commendable. But at the same time, I don’t think there’s any expectation that Rounds will not be able to hold on to that seat,” Hellwege said.
The winner will take on Democrat Julian Beaudion in November.
Favorability poll results for all governor, House and Senate candidates
The News Watch/Chiesman poll also asked Republicans their opinions of the candidates. To see results for each person, click the arrow below and the tab for each section: overall, by gender, age and region where they’re from.
Coming Tuesday
Tuesday’s story will focus on South Dakota News Watch/Chiesman Center for Democracy poll results on the job performance rating South Dakotans give Gov. Larry Rhoden, Sen. John Thune and other elected officials. The story also includes voter thoughts on Noem’s time as DHS secretary and President Trump’s decision to fire her.
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org. Contact politics and statehouse reporter Alexander Rifaat: 605-736-4396/alexander.rifaat@sdnewswatch.org.
South Dakota
FCS Football Recruiting Roundup: South Dakota, Montana State Target 2027 Defensive Standouts
Welcome to another edition of the FCS Football Central Recruiting Roundup.
As spring practice winds down, recruits are still continuing to get on campus to visit schools and meet with their coaching staff. I caught up with some of the latest prospects who received an offer from an FCS program after their visit.
Amarie King | 2027 | DB | 5’7″ 140 lbs | Case High School | Racine, WI
King received his latest offer from South Dakota on April 17 after speaking with defensive coordinator Billy Kirch.
“Coach Kirch told me bout the offer, and that conversation went well. He told me a lot about the school, and asked me what my family and parents do. He said that my film was amazing and that he wanted to offer me,” King said.
“My recruitment is going well, although it is a little stressful here and there, but I am really just being patient and trusting the process, and keep working.”
He has visits to South Dakota and Drake coming up. Last season, he finished with 44 tackles, eight pass breakups, and six interceptions for the Eagles.
After a great conversation with coach kirch I’m blessed to I’ve received my first division 1 offer from @SDCoyotesFB @AntonGraham_ @MJ_NFLDraft @CoachBKirch @joshmanchigiah pic.twitter.com/jaxIYac67A
— Amarie King (@Amarieking27) April 17, 2026
Jayden Harris | 2027 | ATH | 6’2″ 170 lbs | Manteca High School | Manteca, CA
Harris picked up his latest offer from Montana State on Friday when he was in Bozeman for the Bobcats’ Junior Day, and meeting with cornerbacks coach Jordan Lee, defensive coordinator Bobby Daly, and head coach Brent Vigen.
“First, it was Coach Lee, then I had meetings with Coach Daly and Coach Vigen, who broke the news while we were talking. They want me to come in and play early. They like my versatility as a defensive back, and that’s why they offered me,” Harris said.
“The visit was cool! The snow was coming down, and the coaches still showed love. Recruiting is going well right now. Most schools that are in touch with me see something in me for sure, especially since I’m a zero-star athlete, so that’s love. I feel like I’m the best DB in California, and my measurements and production speak for themselves.”
He also has offers from Idaho, Washington State, and Sacramento State. He has upcoming visits to Arizona State and New Mexico.
Last season, he finished with 63 tackles, 11 pass breakups, nine interceptions, six tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles, and two pick-sixes for the Buffaloes.
Blessed to receive an offer from Montana State University 🐾 @ballcoachLee @CoachBobbyDaly @CoachSauve @CoachSmith59 @bvigen @BrandonHuffman @Rivals_Recruits @GregBiggins pic.twitter.com/ofYdjJKcmK
— Jay Harris (@JaydenOHarris) April 18, 2026
Maurice “MJ” Harrell | 2026 | DB | 6’1″ 170 lbs | Hutchinson CC | Hutchinson, KS
Harrell picked up his first Division I offer from Houston Christian on April 17 after he spoke with cornerbacks coach DeMarcus Coleman.
“Coach Coleman called and told me he liked what we saw from the videos I sent him, and that he wanted me to be a part of his program,” Harrell said.
Last season, he finished with 20 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and a fumble recovery for the Blue Dragons. Mercyhurst, Division II UTPB, and Missouri Southern are some other schools he has been in contact with.
Blessed To Receive my first d1 offer from Houstan Christian University pic.twitter.com/OBD9ITQZHS
— MauriceHarrell (@M_Harrell19) April 18, 2026
Jadhari Young | 2026 | WR | 6’1″ 200 lbs | De Anza College | Cupertino, CA
Young received his latest offer from Eastern Illinois on April 15 after speaking with wide receivers coach Tino Smith.
“Coach Smith called me, and we had a long and great conversation. He told me he believes in me and that he thinks I can be great under his coaching,” Young said. “My recruitment has been going great since I graduated two weeks ago. A lot of coaches have expressed a lot of interest in me.”
Young also has offers from Sacramento State, Prairie View A&M, and Chicago State. Last season, he hauled in receptions for 559 yards and seven touchdowns for the Mountain Lions. He was named a Golden Coast Conference First Team selection.
He will be taking his official visit to Eastern Illinois on April 24. Gardner-Webb, West Florida, Monmouth, Stony Brook, and UMass are some other schools he is hearing from.
Blessed to receive my 5th D1 offer from Eastern Illinois University — Dhari Young “DEBO” (@dharigogetit) April 15, 2026
Thank you Coach @coachtinosmith for believing in me💯 pic.twitter.com/yMZjnsfRvK
AJ Moore | 2027 | RB | 5’9″ 200 lbs | College of Dupage | Glen Ellyn, IL
Moore received his first Division I offer from Lindenwood on April 17 after speaking with running backs coach Lane Lawson.
“Coach Lawson called and offered me. He just told me he’d be really excited to have me over and thinks I could be a part of something special with the program they got going over there,” Moore said.
Last season, he finished with 81 carries for 518 yards and five touchdowns, while adding nine receptions for 73 yards and two touchdowns for the Chaparrals, who won their fifth consecutive NJCAA Division III national championship. Moore is working on scheduling his official visit to Lindenwood.
#AGTG After a great conversation with @CoachLawsonLU I am blessed to have my first division 1 offer from Lindenwood University @LindenwoodFB @Dupage_Football @JUCOFFrenzy @AllenTrieu @JordanWesty1 pic.twitter.com/DGLjZC4gIA
— AJ Moore (@ajmoore6_) April 17, 2026
Leshem Nyante | 2027 | OT | 6’5″ 265 lbs | Anna High School | Anna, TX
Nyante picked up his latest offer from Texas Rio Grande Valley on April 17 after he spoke with offensive line coach Jeff Bowen.
“Coach Bowen reached out this morning to officially extend the offer. It was a great talk, and he mentioned they really liked my film and how I would fit their system. So we are focused on building that relationship now,” Nyante said.
“I’m really grateful for how my recruiting process is unfolding so far. Things are definitely moving fast with spring ball right around the corner, and it’s been great seeing the increase in interest every week.”
He also has offers from Arkansas State, Division II Midwestern State, and East Central University. Old Dominion, Texas State, UTEP, and New Mexico are some other schools he is hearing from. Nyante will be taking an official visit to Arkansas State in June.
#AGTG After a great conversation with @CoachJeffBowen , I am blessed to receive a D1 offer from @UTRGVFootball !!@8_parr @Coach_Rigg @tylerdedwards33 @Sevier5 @jessedstew @AnnaCoyotesFB @CoachTBush @Perroni247 @SWiltfong_ @CKennedy247 pic.twitter.com/6o9H13baAb
— Leshem (Shem) Nyantee (@leshemnyantee10) April 17, 2026
Matthew Lashley | 2027 | DB | 6’1″ 198 lbs | Riverside City College | Riverside, CA
Lashley received his latest offer from East Texas A&M on April 15 after speaking with safeties coach Luke Jaicks.
“Coach Jaicks called and offered me. He’s a great coach, and I would love to play for him,” Lashley said. “My recruitment is going well; it’s starting to heat up after spring ball.”
He also has an offer from Southern Utah. Last season, he finished with 14 tackles and two interceptions for the Tigers.
Blessed to receive another D1 offer to @Lions_FB! @JacksonSimon25 @nilsonsports pic.twitter.com/X4iLU8VRID
— Matthew Lashley (@MatthewLashley_) April 15, 2026
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