South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
IT director Mr. Cruz told the Watertown School District 14-4 board that the district manages about 5,000 devices, prioritizes Apple devices for reliability and plans staff professional development on AI next month while restricting student access to enterprise AI tools for now.
South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
Lake Area Tech officials told the board about new dual-credit scholarships and Build Dakota opportunities and secured board approval for a $15,000 office lease, a $142,495.75 CNC fiber laser purchase funded by Perkins, and Coop Architecture design work for a proposed trades center.
South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
The Watertown School District 14-4 board approved a supplemental budget that adjusts multiple funds, voted to combine the school election with the county primary under state changes, and adopted the 2026–27 calendar; the meeting also cleared personnel actions and policy adoptions.
South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
Principal Emily Hatton told the board McKinley’s second year focuses on social-emotional foundations, birth-to-3 services, preschool and junior-kindergarten offerings, midday busing and a half-day kindergarten screening on March 16; staff emphasized family outreach and direct services for special education.
South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
At its November meeting the Watertown School Board approved consent items, several personnel actions and new policies, and authorized staff to bid a $225,000 CNC plasma cutting table for the district’s welding program using FY26 Perkins grant funds.
South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
The Watertown board approved a resolution to allow pursuit of refinancing certain 2015 bond series for Lake Area Tech through the South Dakota Health and Education Facilities Authority if favorable market conditions arise.
South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
District officials reported proficiency rates above state averages in ELA and math and said a supplemental attendance grant will fund an additional family support specialist to address chronic absenteeism.
South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
Principal and a teacher described the Customized Aero Academy(CAA) program history, enrollment and instructional model; a former teacher and several board members pressed for deeper analysis of academic outcomes and historical trade-offs.
South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
Board approved a series of Lake Area Technical College equipment purchases funded by state grants, a supplemental budget reallocating paraprofessional costs to special education, a Johnson Controls agreement for school cooling projects and numerous personnel and policy motions.
South Dakota / School Districts / Watertown School District 14-4
Watertown School District 14-4 will reorganize its ag instruction into four two-year programs — precision ag technology, production agriculture, agriculture business and livestock production — following advisory input; the district will submit revisions to the State Board of Technical Education in October for a planned 2026-27 start date.