South Dakota
Where major education bills stand as Legislature’s main work ends until Veto Day
This legislative session was a “banner year for education.”
That’s the sentiment of House Majority Leader Will Mortenson (R-Fort Pierre). After all, the 2024 legislative session saw frank conversations about the state’s teacher pay situation, school safety and school lunch, as well as support from lawmakers regarding a tuition freeze and a 4% increase in funding to education.
More: $7.3 billion South Dakota budget funds $27 million increase, new programs and more
All of the following bills can move forward if Gov. Kristi Noem approves the budget as it stands, and doesn’t veto any of the bills that have passed by Veto Day on March 25. Here’s a closer look at what’s at stake:
Teacher pay, education funding and a tuition freeze
State employees and educators will get the 4% increase in education funding both they and Noem wanted to see this year, an increase that will benefit public K-12 and higher education.
Technical colleges and state universities will also see a tuition freeze for the third year straight, an addition to the budget Noem hadn’t originally supported in December, and a move that will keep students’ tuition from rising.
Multiple bills came up dealing with the state’s near-last-in-the-nation average teacher salary. The main one passed is Senate Bill 127, which requires districts to raise their average teacher compensation, which affects salary, by 97% of the increase approved by the Legislature and governor each year starting July 1. Noem signed the bill on Wednesday in Mitchell.
SB 127 also requires each district to pay their teachers a salary at least equal to a new state minimum teacher salary of $45,000. That’s where the figure will start in fiscal year 2025. It will increase by the percentage change in target teacher salary from the previous fiscal year to the current fiscal year each year going forward.
Districts that don’t follow the bill by increasing average teacher compensation and paying teachers at least the state minimum teacher salary could face an accreditation review, or could be penalized $500 in state aid for each full-time teacher employed in the district.
A similar bill, House Bill 1048, was tabled in the Senate. It progressed through most of the legislative session until SB 127 was amended and took over.
More: South Dakota Legislature passes bill aiming to increase teacher salaries, compensation
Another bill, House Bill 1201, is awaiting the governor’s signature and would appropriate $800,000 to the Department of Labor and Regulation for the teacher apprenticeship pathway program.
More than $3 million in funding for a major higher education project, the Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology, is contained in Senate Bill 45, which Noem signed at Dakota State University on Wednesday.
More: Why 4 of South Dakota’s universities want a Center for Quantum Information Science
Noem also signed House Bill 1022, a $6 million appropriation to the Department of Education to provide professional development to teachers on literacy education based on the science of reading, in Mitchell on Wednesday.
Attempt for school safety results in concealed carry in schools
Sen. Brent Hoffman (R-Hartford) brought three different school safety bills this session: Senate Bill 34, Senate Bill 103 and Senate Bill 203.
SB 34 would’ve required all 148 public K-12 school districts and all 706 public K-12 school buildings in the state to have a school sentinel or school resource officer, but it was killed in the Senate Education committee.
SB 103 would’ve required each exterior door of a public school that’s unlocked during regular school hours to be monitored and controlled by a school district employee or school resource officer who’s physically present, and would’ve required video surveillance at main school doors, but a vote to pass the bill with an amendment failed in the Senate.
SB 203 was the only bill to make it out of the Legislature, and lets school principals give written permission to individuals 21 or older with an enhanced permit to carry a concealed pistol at public elementary or secondary schools. It’s on Noem’s desk.
More: South Dakota bill would allow principals to decide who concealed carries guns in schools
School lunch bills failed
There were two different attempts to free up some of the costs families face when paying for school lunch: Rep. Kadyn’ Wittman’s (D-Sioux Falls) House Bill 1042, and Rep. Tyler Tordsen’s (R-Sioux Falls) House Bill 1238.
HB 1042 would’ve covered the cost of breakfast and lunch for students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals at an estimated cost of $578,000 per year, but was killed in the House Education committee.
HB 1238 would’ve covered costs for families with incomes less than 209% of the poverty line who aren’t already eligible for free or reduced-price meals through federal programs. Tordsen estimated the annual cost between $1 million and $1.5 million. His bill was killed in the House Committee on Appropriations.
Mixed bag on bills monitoring content, events in educational settings
Noem has a chance in the coming days to sign House Bill 1178, which prohibits the Board of Regents or any institution under its control from using state resources for “obscene live conduct.”
HB 1178 mirrors two similar bills from 2023, House Bill 1116 and House Bill 1125, which were an attempt to prevent events such as the student-led drag show on campus at South Dakota State University in November 2022 from ever happening again.
More: Senate committee advances bill banning ‘obscene live conduct’ at South Dakota universities
Two more outright anti-drag bills, House Bill 1113 and Senate Bill 184, were killed in the early stages of being introduced.
HB 1113 would’ve prohibited the use of state resources for the provision of “lewd or lascivious content,” and sought to limit state agencies, institutions or public school districts to spend money or use state-owned facilities to develop, implement, facilitate, host, promote or fund any “lewd or lascivious content.” HB 1113 was killed in the House State Affairs committee.
SB 184 would’ve made someone guilty of disseminating material harmful to minors, a class one misdemeanor, if they were performing in drag. The bill was killed by the Senate Education committee.
Noem has already signed House Bill 1197, which requires schools to publish online or in their local newspaper what policies they have that restrict minors from accessing obscene matter or materials, something that was largely already in place on many district websites or in their policy handbooks.
South Dakota
MN officials warn dogs adopted from South Dakota show ‘high prevalence of canine brucellosis’
Image on the left shows a dog waiting for adoption in a shelter (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images). image on the right shows an optical microscope view of bacterium brucella canis causes brucellosis (Photo by: BSIP/Education Images/Un (Getty Images)
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health is warning that some dogs adopted from South Dakota are testing positive for canine brucellosis, a contagious and uncurable infection.
Dogs from South Dakota carrying canine brucellosis
By the numbers:
State officials say that so far in 2026, there have been seven canine brucellosis positive dogs traced to South Dakota.
What they’re saying:
Companion Animal Program Veterinarian Dr. Steve Kivisto shared the following statement on the matter.
“We’re evaluating new import requirements and quarantine procedures for dogs coming into Minnesota from South Dakota due to a high prevalence of canine brucellosis in dogs rescued from that geographic area in the past few years,” said companion animal program veterinarian Dr. Steve Kivisto. “We’ve also had recent cases imported from other states and will consider additional requirements if those also prove to contain a pattern of canine brucellosis.”
Dig deeper:
Canine brucellosis is an infection that primarily affects dogs, but there are strains capable of infecting other species, including humans.
The infection in dogs is not curable, and should an owner choose to attempt treatment, their pet could still continue to shed the bacteria. Infected dogs would either need to be quarantined for life or humanely euthanized to prevent the spread.
People who live with or work closely with animals are also at risk of contracting brucellosis.
What you can do:
Officials say anyone bringing dogs into Minnesota for resale or adoption must have a veterinarian examine the animal and sign off on a certificate of veterinary inspection certifying that it appears free from disease.
Testing is also highly recommended since infected dogs can appear healthy.
The Source: This story uses information shared by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.
A Tyrannosaurus rex fossil discovered on a ranch in western South Dakota will be auctioned off in New York City on Tuesday with a possible sale price of $30 million or more.
The 38-foot long skeleton, nicknamed Gus, stands more than 12 feet tall and has one of the most complete T. rex skeletons ever found. According to Sotheby’s auction house, which is handling the sale, Gus could bring the highest sale price ever for a dinosaur fossil.
The dinosaur is from the late Cretaceous Period and was believed to have lived on Earth 67 million years ago.
The Harding County ranch where the skeleton was found lies in the famed Hell Creek Formation, a geological region of northwestern South Dakota and parts of Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming where dinosaur finds are fairly common.
Several other major dinosaur finds have been made there, including Sue, the famous T. rex discovered in 1990. After legal wrangling over ownership, Sue was auctioned in 1997 at a sale price of $8.3 million to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where it remains today.
(Photo: Malcolm Ritter)
The first piece of Gus, a metatarsal from the dinosaur’s foot, was found in 2021 sticking out of the ground on a Harding County ranch owned by Gary and Dana Licking. The find was made by paleontologists with Theropoda Expeditions, a Texas company specializing in commercial excavation, preparation and mounting of dinosaur fossils.
The fossil consists of 183 bone elements, making up 61% of the possible bones in the dinosaur’s body and representing 75% to 80% of the original bone mass by weight, Sotheby’s said.
The dinosaur Sue is 40 feet long and 13 feet tall and is considered the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton ever discovered at 90% of possible bone mass.
“This is our longest-term project ever,” Cassandra Hatton, worldwide head of Sotheby’s Science & Natural History division, said in the video. “From the day the first bone was discovered, we’ve been going back and forth to South Dakota to oversee this whole process.”
The lowest opening bid accepted will be $19 million, with an estimated sale price up to $30 million or more depending on buyer interest, Sotheby’s said.
Gus is named after rancher Gary Licking, whose nickname was Gus. Licking died at age 67 in February 2022, before the full extent of the T. rex skeleton was known.
Gary and Dana Licking married in 1983 and lived on their family ranch 11 miles west of Buffalo, according to Gary’s obituary.
Dana Licking said in Sotheby’s video that she was impressed at the level of skill and professionalism displayed by the paleontologists who discovered the skeleton.
“I’m really grateful that they found it because it could have been lost and nobody ever would learn anything about it,” she said.
Walter Stein, owner of PaleoAdventures in Belle Fourche, in western South Dakota, is an independent paleontologist who is also working to uncover fossils in the Hell Creek Formation.
Western South Dakota is likely to remain a hotbed for discovery of dinosaur fossils, said Stein, who last year opened the Dinosaurs of the Hell Creek Museum in Belle Fourche, a 6,500 square-foot museum with a working paleontology lab, interactive exhibits and dinosaur displays.
“Finding a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton with 183 bones doesn’t happen every day,” he said.
Stein said the auction of Gus could lead to a purchase by either a museum or a private individual or group.
But it is unlikely an American museum would have the funding to acquire Gus because many are struggling or struggling financially, Stein said. Across the world, however, interest remains high in major fossils in countries where funding may be more accessible, such as in Japan, Korea, China, Dubai, Saudi Arabia or in Europe, Stein said.
“On the one hand, I would love for this and every fossil I collect to go to a museum,” he said. “However, there’s so many dinosaur specimens and skeletons on display, it’s not going to affect the science that much if it ends up in private hands.”
— This story originally published on southdakotanewswatch.org.
Iverson Ford now offers the 2027 Ford Expedition, giving families throughout Huron, Mitchell, Aberdeen, Watertown, Brookings, De Smet, Redfield, Miller, and surrounding South Dakota communities access to a full-size SUV with advanced technology, impressive capability, and spacious three-row comfort.
— Iverson Ford is proud to offer the 2027 Ford Expedition, providing drivers throughout Eastern South Dakota with Ford’s latest full-size SUV engineered for growing families, outdoor adventures, towing capability, and everyday versatility. The newest Expedition combines three-row comfort, advanced driver-assist technologies, modern connectivity, and confident performance for today’s active lifestyles.
Located at 2500 Dakota Avenue South in Huron, Iverson Ford serves customers from Huron, Mitchell, Aberdeen, Watertown, Brookings, De Smet, Redfield, Miller, Woonsocket, and surrounding South Dakota communities. As part of the Iverson Auto Group, the dealership offers an extensive selection of new Ford vehicles supported by experienced product specialists, financing professionals, and certified Ford service technicians.
The 2027 Ford Expedition continues Ford’s commitment to delivering capability and comfort in one versatile SUV. Designed for families who need generous passenger space and flexible cargo capacity, the Expedition is well suited for daily commuting, weekend road trips, towing recreational equipment, and exploring South Dakota’s parks, lakes, and outdoor destinations.
“Our team enjoys helping customers find an SUV that fits both their lifestyle and long-term transportation needs,” said a representative of Iverson Ford. “The 2027 Ford Expedition offers the capability, technology, and versatility that many South Dakota families value, whether they’re traveling across town or across the state.”
Demand for full-size SUVs continues to grow as drivers seek vehicles that balance passenger comfort with towing capability and advanced safety features. Iverson Ford helps customers compare Expedition trim levels, explore available technologies, and select the model that best matches their family’s needs while providing continued support through financing, certified maintenance, and genuine Ford parts.
Drivers interested in the 2027 Ford Expedition are encouraged to browse available inventory online or visit Iverson Ford in Huron to experience the SUV firsthand.
About Iverson Ford
Iverson Ford is a full-service Ford dealership located in Huron, South Dakota. Serving drivers throughout Huron, Mitchell, Aberdeen, Watertown, Brookings, De Smet, Redfield, Miller, and surrounding communities, the dealership offers new Ford vehicles, quality pre-owned vehicles, financing, certified Ford service, genuine OEM Ford parts, and customer-focused automotive solutions backed by more than 75 years of service through the Iverson Auto Group.
Contact Info:
Name: Iverson Ford
Email: Send Email
Organization: Iverson Ford
Address: 2500 Dakota Ave S, Huron, SD 57350
Phone: +16053526464
Website: https://www.iversonford.com/
Release ID: 89197473
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