Overwhelmed Black Hills schools want to lock up kids again

Mixed in with the copious narratives about the horrific Republican culture of corruption, lack of student preparedness, rampant teacher flight and soul-killing Trumpist insurgencies there is more bad news coming from the central and southern Black Hills.

On December 17 in a town named for a war criminal South Dakota’s NAZI District 30 legislators, Reps. Tim Goodwin, Julie Frye-Mueller and Sen. Lance Russell held court with administrators and board staff from three counties. Nearly everybody in the room said they felt helpless as they lose local control to Pierre.

Much of the problem centered around former Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s juvenile justice reform package, which sounded a death knell for the former State Treatment and Rehabilitation (STAR) Academy, and returned children who would likely be in the juvenile justice system to their hometowns for the schools and law enforcement there to deal with. Legislation is also being crafted that would strip Gov. Kristi Noem of the ability to sell the former STAR Academy in hopes it could return to its former use as a juvenile detention facility.

Custer School District Board of Education member Jeff Prior said parents have called him, angry that the statutory requirement for education funding increases are being ignored. Goodwin said the budget “is the legislators,” not (Noem’s), while adding that the last minute passage of the budget is intentional so people will cave “because they want to go home.” All three District 30 representatives voted against the budget a year ago, and pledged to those in attendance they would do so again if it did not include the required education increase. Hill City School District Board of Education member Dennis Krull said he believes the cap takes away local control, and said Hill City stands to lose $269,000 because of the cap.

Russell said he is open to the idea of charter schools, especially in places such as Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Russell said if a school perpetually fails in academics, is rife with violence, suicide and “structurally inept,” he would not want to see children in the school put in a situation where they have no option but stay in that school. Russell said it’s frustrating to him when someone who says they are leading shows their word cannot be trusted, referencing again Noem’s failure to propose an increase in education funds. Russell said the education funding overhaul has benefitted only large school districts. [War Criminal County Chronicle]

Brady Folkens died in state custody after a botched diagnosis at the former STAR Academy on December 21, 2013 then the State of South Dakota's Office of Risk Management helped to bury the evidence of negligent homicide. After a public outcry the death camp was shuttered and the sprawling property south of town sold at auction for the minimum bid of $2.34 million. The buyers were a group of investors represented at the sale by real estate agent and former mayor Jared Carson but have since defaulted on their commitment. STAR Academy's predecessors, South Dakota Tuberculosis Sanatorium and Custer State Hospital at Sanator have macabre histories of their own.

Recall that in 2018 during his mansplaining to Girls State Denny Daugaard was too ashamed and embarrassed to talk about South Dakota being the only state without at least one gold or silver medal school. He left out the state's federal dependence and a flat line economy, too. But in a feat of product placement he pimped for his former boy toy, Howdy Doody Dusty Johnson. More evidence of Denny Daugaard's failures: a third of qualified teaching grads leave South Dakota while the remainder struggle with certification. There are no checks on executive power and the governor's cronies routinely raid the state's general fund. The state is second in addiction to gambling and teachers' salaries surf the bottom of the US.

To honor Hulett, Wyoming-based Devils Tower Forest Products the town named for a war criminal plans its seventh ritualized bark beetle burning January 17-18.

Kids: Stay in school. pic.twitter.com/0DcVDQ4QMM

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) December 25, 2019