August 24th will be the opening day of classes for the students in the South Hamilton Community School District. The school board approved its 2026-27 calendar during their meeting Monday evening.The calendar will include full-day professional development approximately once per month, two weeks of winter break, one week of spring break and a tentative last day of school on May 27th, 2027, assuming no additional weather-related cancellations.
The South Hamilton board approved the adjustment to the 2025-26 school calendar to implement full days of school on Wednesdays beginning on April 1st, 2026. Due to the school cancellations, delayed starts and early dismissals caused by inclement weather, the South Hamilton district is currently 2.5 hours short of the required 1,080 instructional hours for the school year. The calendar adjustment eliminates Wednesday late starts and replaces them with full days of school beginning April 1,2026 to make up for the lost instructional time.
The date of Monday, March 30th for the public hearing on the proposed property tax levy for the South Hamilton district beginning at 6:00 p.m. The budget adoption hearing will be held on Monday, April 13th at 6:00 p.m.. Both hearings will be held at the South Hamilton board room at 315 Division Street in Jewell.
In other matters at Monday evening’s meeting, the South Hamilton board approved the low quote for Chromebooks for the second through sixth grade classrooms for $131,811 from Tranfera. The board accepted the low bid for the Ever Alert System from Howard Technology Solutions for $182043. A trip to the Central American nation of Costa Rica was approved for the Spanish club of South Hamilton in 2028. The South Hamilton board approved an additional certified 2 full time instructors to serve a larger class sizes at the elementary building.
Resignations from Jamie Reisetter as a junior high volleyball coach pending a suitable replacement can be found and from special education teacher Rachel Soderberg-Cornish were accepted. The following hirings were accepted by the school board of South Hamilton. They are Cole Billerbeck as head varsity football coach, Austin Heeren as volunteer boys golf coach, Jamie Reisetter as a volunteer girls golf coach and from Doug Sogard as a morning bus driver.
A cooperative agreement with Morningside University of Sioux City with South Hamilton was approved. The evaluation of the school superintendent will be completed prior to the April 13th school board meeting.