PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Two K-12 teachers in western South Dakota have had their licenses permanently revoked, while two others from the Sioux Falls area have received public reprimands.
The teaching license of the McIntosh principal has also been suspended as part of a plea agreement and a Parker teacher’s license was suspended for being “deceitful” on his application.
Those penalties are among the latest handed down by state Education Secretary Joseph Graves.
They were based on recommendations from the South Dakota Professional Teachers Practices and Standards Commission and the South Dakota Professional Administrators Practices and Standards Commission.
The license of Sturgis Brown High School teacher Chris West was revoked after he came to work intoxicated. During the state investigation, West said he was resigning and leaving education.
The license of St. Francis Indian School counselor Keiton Guess was revoked after a domestic incident at his home where he allegedly assaulted a woman he was seeing and “caused a serious likelihood of injury to his daughter.”
Michelle Pliska, a former Garretson school counselor who now works for Dakota Hope Counseling, received a public reprimand. A specific reason for the reprimand isn’t given, but the document cites violations of subsections 5, 8 and 9 of the state rule listing a teacher’s obligations to students.
Shana Legg, a former Harrisburg High School special education teacher who now works at Teachwell Solutions, received a public reprimand. A specific reason for the reprimand isn’t given, but the document cites violations of subsections 5 and 7 of the state rule listing a teacher’s obligations to students.
The teaching license of Scott Klaudt, principal at McIntosh High School, was suspended until June 30, 2025, for violating subsections 1, 2, 3 and 7 of the state rule listing a teacher’s obligations to students.
Klaudt had previously pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of theft while serving as a principal at New Salem-Almost school district in North Dakota. He resigned as principal there and was hired at McIntosh. His North Dakota license was suspended until June 30, 2023.
The teaching license of Michael Morran, a teacher in the Parker school district, was suspended until July 2, 2028, for failing to disclose on his South Dakota application in 2023 an incident from 2022 involving a special education student while he was elementary principal at South O’Brien Community School District in Iowa.
The South Dakota commission viewed video footage from parts of the incident and concluded, “Morran’s actions in dealing with the student went far beyond any appropriate method in which to address the incident with the student. Morran was deceitful on his Application.”
