Destruction keeps kids out of school

BRANDON — About 340 kindergarten to Grade 8 students at Sioux Valley Elementary School will remain out of class this week after a windstorm seriously damaged the building earlier this month.

Part of the school’s roof in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation was torn off on June 6 and students haven’t been able to return since, the school’s principal said.

Rosita Wasicuna-Smoke said closing the school to students was extremely important.

“We just shut down everything. We had to leave it as is. We couldn’t go in until we actually got the insurance to come and have a look,” Wasicuna-Smoke said Monday.

A limited number of staff have been allowed in since, and many others are working from home to get report cards and other assessments completed for the end of the school year.

“We can’t really get staff in to box up everything right now, so it’s just kind of like playing the waiting game. We’re not planning week to week like we usually do. We’re planning day to day,” she said.

The school also has water damage caused by the hole in the building’s roof.

Students in Grades 9 to 12, who attend school across the street in trailers, remain in class, according to a post on the community’s website.

For the students themselves, Wasicuna-Smoke said she’s concerned as the children are missing their routine, and staff often don’t know what to tell them when they make inquiries.

She’s also thinking about the children who need extra support.

“I can’t just say ‘yes, school’s going to happen on this day,’” she said. “I kind of have to give them a very simplified answer, because we don’t know ourselves.”

Officials are planning to have students back in class June 22 at an alternate location for the final week of school.

Wasicuna-Smoke said she’s thankful that the roof was torn off on a Saturday, when students weren’t in class.

Currently, the goal is to have the school good to go for the fall, when students start the next school year, Wasicuna-Smoke said.

— Brandon Sun