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Spanish-speaking teacher, she said she could no longer commit to building a school with four classes at each grade level. Instead, she is looking at four options in the central part of town, where she would like to close a couple of older elementary schools.
• Homan knows data. She worked as the district's data person before becoming superintendent. Her decision to build based on three years of trends, and then the turn-about to scratch the plans after a one-year decline in interest, seems a bit knee-jerk and certainly confusing to taxpayers. But she also admits her own passion was to see the program continue to grown.
• Instead, she has recommended keeping the enrollment in a three-section school, no matter the interest in the future and no matter where classes are held. For now, that seems reasonable until more years of data can be gauged. We urge her to go beyond the enrollment numbers and find out why it has fluctuated so much before she makes other decisions about the program. That question is unanswered at this point.
• Homan has asked the board to make a decision by March 6. That's not a lot of time to hash out all of the pluses and minuses of the four plans, so parents and other taxpayers should engage in the issue right away.
• We encourage Homan and the board to provide more clarity on the sudden switch and to listen to other ideas as well. In the early years of any program, it's important to be flexible because it's reasonable to see fluctuations in interest.
• As a community, let's get questions answered and take some time instead of making another hasty decision.
• ___
• Rapid City Journal, Rapid City, Feb. 6, 2013
• Is the VA finally listening?
• The Save the VA group finally got its meeting with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who listened to their proposal to keep the Hot Springs VA facility open as a national PTSD treatment center.
• After the scheduled 45 minute meeting stretched to an hour and a half, members of the Hot Springs group said they were encouraged. "We were very encouraged by the attention Secretary Shinseki gave to our presentation," said Save the VA spokesman Rich Gross.
• The meeting included Gov. Dennis Daugaard and a delegation of senators and representatives from South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska. Oglala Sioux tribal president Bryan Brewer recorded a video message expressing opposition to the proposed closure of most VA medical facilities in Hot Springs and relocate them to

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