In response to a rapidly growing student population, Bismarck Public Schools has unanimously approved the construction of a new high school and two new elementary schools. The plan totals an estimated $81 million and is to be voted on by the public before commencing.
The district’s last school to be completed, Sunrise Elementary, opened in August 2010. Bismarck hasn’t added a public high school since Century High in 1976.
All three schools are expected to begin construction this fall with the elementary schools opening as soon as the 2013 school year. If constructed as planned, these projects will see the addition of Bismarck’s third public high school and eighteenth elementary school.
The Board also examined short term resolutions, including adding or moving portables and possibly re-configuring grade levels to K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Plans to construct a fourth middle school or add onto the existing middle schools were put on hold for the time being.
