FORT PIERRE, S.D.(DRGNews)- The Stanley County School Board has unanimously passed a resolution opposing South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s proposal to create state-funded Education Savings Accounts.

Stanley County School District Superintendent Dan Baldwin said as proposed, the E-S-As could be used to either pay for a portion of the cost to home school a student or pay for part of the student’s tuition to a private school.

The E-S-A proposal was also a topic during the Pierre School District’s School Board meeting this month, as well as during a legislative preview discussion held with the District 24 lawmakers prior to the board meeting.

In her budget proposal, Noem said the E-S-A program would not be a detriment to public education funding, but Pierre School Board President Joan Adam doesn’t see it that way.

Noem said the initial investment of $3000 per qualifying student for the Education Savings Accounts would total approximately $4 million. Among her other budget proposals were a 1.25% funding increase for education, the permanent repeal of the state sales tax, cutting a majority of the state’s funding from South Dakota Public Broadcasting and making nearly $72 million ($71.9 million) in other “budget reductions and discretionary changes.”

South Dakota’s 100th Legislative Session begins Jan. 14, 2025.