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Custer School District, South Dakota, elections

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Custer School District
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District details
School board members: 7
Students: 906 (2023-2024)
Schools: 6 (2023-2024)
Website: Link

Custer School District is a school district in South Dakota (Custer and Pennington counties). During the 2024 school year, 906 students attended one of the district's six schools.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

Jump to a section:
Elections School board Location Budget Academic performance Students Staff Schools

Elections

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Election rules

 

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board elections in South Dakota must be held in each district between the second Tuesday in April and the third Tuesday in June every year. The school district board determines the election date for the district. School districts can but are not required to consolidate their elections with municipal elections on one of three dates: the second Tuesday in April, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June, or the third Tuesday in June. In 2023, 52% of districts scheduled their elections for the second Tuesday in April, 22% of districts scheduled their elections for the Tuesday after the first Monday in June, and 20% of districts scheduled their elections for the third Tuesday in June. The remaining 6% had unknown 2023 election date schedules or scheduled their elections for different unconsolidated dates.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-10

Election system

School board members in South Dakota are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-10

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in South Dakota are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. South Dakota Statute Section 13-7-13 concerning the ballots for school district elections states, "No party affiliation may appear on the ballot and the names of the candidates for the respective vacancies shall be printed on the ballot."

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-13

Winning an election

The candidate or candidates who receive the most votes are elected to the open seat or seats that are up for election.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-10

Term length and staggering

School board members have three-year terms. Initial terms for school board members of newly formed districts or school board member seats that were newly added to increase the total number of board members are set to be one, two, or three years to stagger elections.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-8-2

As close to one-third of school board seats as possible are up for regular election every year.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-10

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School board members can be elected at large, by representation area (sub-district), or a combination of the two. School board members are elected at large by default, but school boards or voters through a ballot measure can establish school board representation areas. As of 2022, 143 districts (96%) elected all of their school board members at large, four districts (3%) elected all of their school board members from sub-districts, and two districts (1%) used a combination of the two.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-8-7

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

The candidate filing deadline for school board candidates is 39 days before the election unless the election is consolidated with a municipal election and the municipal election filing period dates are used.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-7-6

Newly elected school board members officially take office at the school board's annual meeting, which is held by default on the second Monday of July. The school board may set a different date for its annual meeting.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: South Dakota Statute section 13-8-10

 


About the district

School board

The Custer School District consists of seven members serving three-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members
NameYear assumed officeYear term ends
Brandy Tarap20252028
Corey Virtue20252028
Heath Reindl20242027
Jeff Barnes20182027
Sara Barrick20212026
Larry Baker20202026
Travis Hartshorn20172026

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District map

School district map

Overlapping state house districts

Custer School District
Office NameCurrent OfficeholderParty% School District Covered% Other District Covered
South Dakota House of Representatives District 30Tim GoodwinRepublican Party 100% 29%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 30Trish LadnerRepublican Party 100% 29%

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[1]

Revenue, 2021-2022
SOURCE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Federal: $3,274,000 $3,551 20%
Local: $12,547,000 $13,608 77%
State: $397,000 $431 2%
Total: $16,218,000 $17,590
Expenditures, 2021-2022
TYPE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Total Expenditures: $18,784,000 $20,373
Total Current Expenditures: $12,826,000 $13,911
Instructional Expenditures: $7,055,000 $7,651 38%
Student and Staff Support: $1,033,000 $1,120 5%
Administration: $1,490,000 $1,616 8%
Operations, Food Service, Other: $3,248,000 $3,522 17%
Total Capital Outlay: $5,324,000 $5,774
Construction: $4,883,000 $5,296
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: $2,000 $2
Interest on Debt: $612,000 $663

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."[2]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2021-2022 41 PS PS 30-39 <=20 21-39 43
2020-2021 40 PS PS 21-39 <=20 21-39 42
2018-2019 40 PS PS 21-39 <50 <=20 41
2017-2018 35 PS 21-39 <=20 <=20 38
2016-2017 38 PS PS 21-39 <=20 <50 40
2015-2016 34 PS <50 11-19 <=20 <50 37
2014-2015 31 PS PS <=20 21-39 <=20 33
2013-2014 PS PS
2012-2013 66 PS PS 40-59 40-59 >=50 68
2011-2012 75 PS PS 40-59 60-79 PS 78
2010-2011 74 >=50 PS 40-59 40-59 PS 77

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2021-2022 51 PS PS 50-59 <=20 21-39 53
2020-2021 54 PS PS 40-59 21-39 40-59 55
2018-2019 54 PS PS 40-59 <50 40-59 55
2017-2018 44 PS 40-59 <=20 21-39 47
2016-2017 44 PS PS 40-59 <=20 <50 45
2015-2016 43 PS <50 30-39 21-39 <50 45
2014-2015 39 PS PS 21-39 21-39 <=20 41
2013-2014 PS PS
2012-2013 73 PS PS 40-59 60-79 <50 76
2011-2012 80 PS PS 60-79 60-79 PS 82
2010-2011 77 >=50 PS 60-79 40-59 PS 80

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2021-2022 75-79 PS PS PS PS PS 75-79
2020-2021 80-84 PS PS 85-89
2019-2020 90-94 PS PS PS PS >=90
2018-2019 >=90 PS PS PS >=90
2017-2018 >=95 PS PS PS >=90
2016-2017 >=90 PS PS PS >=90
2015-2016 85-89 PS PS PS PS PS >=90
2014-2015 85-89 PS PS 85-89
2013-2014 85-89 PS PS 80-89
2012-2013 80-84 PS PS PS PS 80-84
2011-2012 80-89 PS PS 80-89
2010-2011 80-89 PS PS 80-89

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[3]

Year Enrollment Year-to-year change (%)
2023-2024 906 -0.6
2022-2023 911 -1.2
2021-2022 922 3.6
2020-2021 889 -4.6
2019-2020 930 -2.8
2018-2019 956 6.0
2017-2018 899 1.7
2016-2017 884 0.9
2015-2016 876 1.5
2014-2015 863 0.6
2013-2014 858 -0.8
2012-2013 865 -0.9
2011-2012 873 -1.9
2010-2011 890 -2.2
2009-2010 910 -7.5
2008-2009 978 3.5
2007-2008 944 -2.6
2006-2007 969 -2.3
2005-2006 991 -4.0
2004-2005 1,031 1.3
2003-2004 1,018 0.7
2002-2003 1,011 -1.4
2001-2002 1,025 0.7
2000-2001 1,018 -5.0
1999-2000 1,069 0.0
Racial Demographics, 2023-2024
RACE Custer School District (%) South Dakota K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native 2.4 10.5
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 0.4 1.6
Black 0.1 3.4
Hispanic 7.3 8.5
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.0 0.1
Two or More Races 4.9 5.9
White 84.9 70.0

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[4]

As of the 2023-2024 school year, Custer School District had 75.71 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 11.97.

Teachers, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten: 0.50
Kindergarten: 6.56
Elementary: 39.08
Secondary: 17.07
Total: 75.71

Custer School District employed 7.00 district administrators and 3.84 school administrators as of the 2023-2024 school year.

Administrators, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators: 7.00
District Administrative Support: 1.86
School Administrators: 3.84
School Administrative Support: 4.00
Other staff, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides: 42.00
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: 0.58
Total Guidance Counselors: 2.33
Elementary Guidance Counselors: 0.00
Secondary Guidance Counselors: 0.00
Librarians/Media Specialists: 0.00
Library/Media Support: 1.00
Student Support Services: 6.16
Other Support Services: 26.18

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[5]

The Custer School District operates six schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.
List of schools
SCHOOL NAMENUMBER OF STUDENTSGRADES
A.C.E. High Academy - 06199-12
Custer Elementary - 02293KG-6
Custer High School - 012629-12
Custer Jr. High - 051037-8
Hermosa Elementary - 04175KG-6
Hermosa Middle School - 07547-8


About school boards

Education legislation in South Dakota

Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.

See also

School Boards Education Policy Local Politics South Dakota
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External links

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    • Footnotes

    1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    2. ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2021-22 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed October 18, 2025
    3. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    4. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    5. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
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