Your Schools, Your Money
Custer County School Funding: The Full Accountability Picture

When people talk about Custer County property taxes, the conversation usually gravitates to the county commission — roads, the sheriff, the courthouse. That's reasonable. But if you look at your actual tax bill, the school levy is almost certainly the largest single piece of what you're paying. And it's the one that gets the least scrutiny.

Let me give you the numbers. Not impressions, not summaries. The numbers that are publicly available from the South Dakota Department of Education, the National Center for Education Statistics, and official commission meeting minutes.

How South Dakota School Funding Works — The Part Nobody Explains

South Dakota uses a formula called Average Daily Membership — ADM — to calculate how much each school district "needs." For fiscal year 2026, the state's formula figure is $62,821.19 per student.

The formula works like this: the state calculates what a district needs based on enrollment, then subtracts what the district can raise from local property taxes at standard levy rates. If there's a gap, the state fills it with aid. If the district's local property taxes already cover the need figure, the state pays nothing.

Custer School District 16-1 receives zero state aid. The state's formula treats it as "property tax rich." What that means in practice: every dollar of the school budget comes from local Custer County property taxpayers. The state has decided your home values are high enough that you can afford to fund the school yourself. Whether you agree with that assessment or not — that's the structure.

$14,157 Per Student — What Are We Getting?

The district spends $14,157 per student annually. That's above the state's formula figure and above what many comparable rural South Dakota districts spend. The question a taxpayer who funds 100% of that through property taxes is entitled to ask is simple: what are the outcomes?

The honest answer is: above average for South Dakota, but South Dakota's average is not a high bar, and the margin is thin.

I want to be fair here. A 93.5% graduation rate and a 24th-place state ranking for the high school are real accomplishments for a district of 906 students. The ELA performance at the high school level is strong. These are not numbers that suggest a failing school.

But they are numbers that do not suggest exceptional performance relative to what's being spent. And when 58 out of 100 students cannot meet grade-level math standards after years at the same funding levels, the question is not whether the school is bad — it isn't — but whether there is a plan, and whether taxpayers are being told honestly what it is.

The Safety Decision Nobody Voted On

In early 2026, law enforcement was removed from Custer's school building. The School Resource Officer position was eliminated. This was not put to a public vote. It was not the subject of a community meeting. It appeared in the official commission minutes of January 20, 2026 — after the fact.

"Lintz met with Travis Hartshorn re: loss of law enforcement presence in the Custer school. Commissioner Hartman noted a meeting taking place today to discuss adding the law enforcement officer back into the school."
— Custer County Commission Minutes, January 20, 2026

The commission chair had to schedule a separate meeting to discuss restoring a law enforcement presence that had already been removed. In a rural community where the nearest backup can be many minutes away, the SRO is not just a security presence. It is often the only sworn law enforcement officer in that building during school hours.

Here is the accountability dimension: the same county that is asking residents to approve a new fire protection property tax levy allowed law enforcement to be removed from the school building without a public debate. Both are public safety functions. Both draw from the same property tax base. The commission's stated justification for the fire opt-out is that services need more funding. But if services need more funding, why was the school resource officer the first thing cut?

The Compound Levy Problem

A Custer County homeowner's property tax bill is built by stacking multiple taxing authorities: the school district, the county, the city if inside city limits, and various special districts. When Custer County pursues a new Fire Opt-Out levy, it adds another layer to a stack that already has the school levy — the largest piece — funded entirely by local property taxpayers with zero state contribution.

At the same time, the state just signed SB 245 — a credit of up to 15% on owner-occupied property tax bills starting July 1, 2026. Governor Rhoden called it the largest property tax cut in South Dakota history. A new county levy would reduce or eliminate the net benefit that state relief was specifically designed to provide.

The Questions Taxpayers Are Entitled to Ask

This is not an argument against public education or against funding schools adequately. It is an argument that the residents who fund 100% of Custer School District's budget through property taxes — with no state backstop — are entitled to clear, honest answers to basic questions:

• What percentage of the $14,157 per-student expenditure goes directly to classroom instruction versus administrative overhead and facilities?
• Math proficiency has been near or below 50% for multiple years. What is the specific intervention plan, and what is the measurable improvement timeline?
• The SRO was removed from the school building in early 2026. What is the timeline and funding mechanism to restore law enforcement presence?
• As property values rise and the district automatically collects more revenue per year, what happens to that additional revenue? Is it being used to improve outcomes or to maintain current operations?
• The district receives no state aid because assessed property values are high. What happens to school funding if the Black Hills real estate market corrects?

The Founders were consistent on one point across their writings: self-governance requires an informed citizenry. That principle applies to school boards and county commissions as much as it does to Congress. The information is available — in DOE reports, in commission minutes, in NCES data. Using it is the job of every taxpaying resident.

Jerry Odom is the founder of SEAL SD. Download the full print-ready school funding accountability report at sealsd.com/documents.