Noem won’t reappoint Aberdeen superintendent to education standards board

Becky Guffin’s replacement comes amid social studies revisions, follows calls for resignation

Gov. Kristi Noem is replacing the chair of a state board that will decide South Dakota’s public school social studies standards later this spring.

Board of Education Standards Chairwoman Becky Guffin will not be reappointed to the governor-appointed body that’s been working for nearly three years to update Department of Education curriculum, the Governor’s Office announced Tuesday. The Aberdeen Public School superintendent will be replaced by Sioux Falls businessman Steve Perkins.

Guffin, whose term expired Dec. 31, 2022, faced calls to resign from the board last year after reports surfaced that an assistant in her Aberdeen office was working to thwart adoption of the standards being proposed by a consultant who assisted the panel.

Rep. Sue Peterson, R-Sioux Falls, in September called Guffin’s committee assignment a “conflict of interest.”

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