Yankton board highlights student success, new behavioral-health partnership and PE/health curriculum updates
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Summary
At its monthly meeting the Yankton School District 63-3 board heard student presentations and approved curriculum committee recommendations that include a three-year behavioral-health partnership with Mount Marty and a pilot of heart-rate monitors for PE classes. A visiting HSC director credited the district with helping a previously displaced student graduate.
Yankton School District 63-3 board members heard a series of presentations at their meeting on Feb. 1 focusing on student achievement, partnerships to expand behavioral-health support and proposed updates to the physical education and health curriculum.
Chad Herman, alternative school director at the South Dakota Human Services Center, described a collaborative effort with Yankton High School that resulted in a previously displaced 19-year-old student meeting graduation requirements. "As of yesterday morning, this girl has met all her requirements and will be receiving a diploma from Yankton High School," Herman said, crediting district administration, the ALC and the counseling office for creating a plan to deliver needed classes and supports.
The board also introduced Whitney Schroeder, who said she will work with Mount Marty and district schools as part of a new grant-funded behavioral health pathway. Schroeder said the partnership aims to build a continuum of supports "from the middle school to the high school to the university, and then hopefully out into the field" over the next three years.
Separately, the district's physical education and health curriculum committee presented two years of review and recommended new resources and programming changes. Committee leaders said the updated curriculum emphasizes physical, mental and social well-being, with elementary activities focused on nutrition, reinforced goal-setting at the middle school level and enhanced monitoring at the high school level.
On the high-school side, the committee proposed using wearable heart-rate monitors to help teachers assess and coach students during PE. Staff said the district intends to acquire 60 heart-rate monitors plus two instructor devices, trade in older units for a discount, and purchase the accompanying online software for seven years. Initial plans call for students to wear the devices only during class periods; a later, limited trial of 24-hour or week-long monitoring may be considered for research purposes.
Committee members emphasized that curriculum resources will be available online for a 30-day public review period and invited questions by email. Board members asked about subscription costs and whether devices would be taken home; staff confirmed the district had not provided per-device or software costs during the presentation.
The meeting also featured student council members who presented school activities and a Super Bowl food-drive result; students described events the district runs to build community engagement. Board members and administrators thanked staff and the retiring employees recognized at the meeting.
Next steps: curriculum resources will remain online for a 30-day review; the behavioral-health partnership activities are expected to roll out under the three-year grant timeline noted in the presentation.