Huron board hears proposal for junior kindergarten at Buchanan; superintendent will bring formal approval to next meeting

At its Jan. 27 special meeting, the Huron Board of Education heard a proposal to add a junior kindergarten program at Buchanan K‑1 Center for children who are age‑eligible for kindergarten but may benefit from an additional year of development before entering regular kindergarten.

Heather Devore, principal at Buchanan, and Rhonda Klute, the district’s preschool partnership coordinator, told the board the proposal would not request additional funding or staff initially and would be scheduled and housed at Buchanan using existing district resources. "This proposal is not asking for any additional funding or, staffing at this point," Devore said during the presentation.

The program would serve children who are 5 on or before Sept. 1 (the same eligibility cut‑off used for regular kindergarten), with preference for summer birthdays (May–August). District leaders said the class would be capped at 15–18 students the first year and a wait list would be started if demand exceeds seats. The JK class would follow the Huron district daily schedule (8:15 a.m.–3:10 p.m.) with a possible half‑day option if parents request it; district staff said mornings would be prioritized for classroom instruction if a half‑day option is used.

Devore said the JK curriculum would use the South Dakota kindergarten standards and the South Dakota Early Learning Guidelines and include thematic units to introduce reading, language arts, pre‑math, listening and oral expression, social skills through play, and fine and large motor activities. Preschool providers in Huron have been consulted: Devore reported there are nine preschools in town and that local providers identified roughly 193 children eligible for kindergarten this coming fall.

Board members asked about how a half‑day option would be structured and whether the program could reduce later kindergarten retentions. Devore said a half‑day would likely focus on morning instruction and that she has observed more retentions in Huron than in neighboring districts, though she did not provide a precise count. Garrett (board member) asked whether the program would reduce repeat kindergarten placements; Devore said she had no hard retention number available but hoped JK could reduce retentions.

The board also discussed whether junior kindergarten could be an option for students currently served in the district’s reverse inclusion classroom at McKinley. Devore and district staff said JK could be an option if an individualized team (including the parent) determined another year before kindergarten would benefit the child; otherwise teams could still recommend regular kindergarten.

Superintendent Dr. Eric Steinhoff told the board he supports bringing the proposal back for a formal vote: "We'll have this on the next school board agenda as a new business item, and I'll be recommending to you as the board of ed to approve it," he said.

No formal vote was taken on the JK program at the Jan. 27 meeting; the board directed staff to include the proposal on the next agenda for action.

The board received the presentation and asked questions about logistics, eligibility, and how the program would interact with existing preschool and special‑education placements.