PIERRE, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) The South Dakota Board of Regents (SDBOR), which governs the state’s six public universities, provides up to $7,500 over four years for students who attend an eligible institution through the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship.
The reason behind the move: The South Dakota Department of Education and the SDBOR work together to identify which courses apply toward the scholarship requirements, said Nathan Lukkes, executive director for the SDBOR. In the past, journalism was included in the English unit but was removed because of how the course varied from school district to school district, and the courses didn’t have the content standards and couldn’t be “holistically” verified, he said.
Journalism programs were given no warning: Before the decision was made, high school journalism teachers and program heads were given no information about this happening. “There was never any knowledge of this being an issue, and the school district didn’t know about it either, as far as I know,” said Katie Kroeze, journalism teacher and adviser for the school newspaper at Sioux Falls Lincoln High School.
Journalism courses may still be accepted: Schools can apply to get their newspaper and yearbook courses accepted as a qualifying course for the Opportunity Scholarship by applying for a waiver through the SDBOR. Kroeze said she looked for how to do that but couldn’t easily find out how.