NEWS

Harrisburg schools burst at the seams

Jon Walker

Surging enrollment in the Harrisburg district will send voters back to the polls this fall to consider building one school, expanding another and upgrading a variety of student programs.

A bond issue election set for Oct. 7 would raise $25 million to finance the improvements.

A 60 percent “yes” vote that day at the polls would pay for a new $13.1 million elementary school near 69th Street and Bahnson Avenue, on a vacant field that is in the southeast corner of Sioux Falls and also inside the northern edge of the Harrisburg district. The rest of the money would cover an $11.9 million package of upgrades that would include bumping the capacity of the high school on the west edge of Harrisburg by 500 students.

Board members Juanita Schmunk, Michelle Schirado, Amber Ellingsen, Mike Knudson and Linda Heerde voted 5-0 Monday night to set the fall election date. They will consider final ballot language in their Sept. 8 meeting.

The decision comes as the Harrisburg district seeks to manage one of South Dakota’s sharpest growth trends in the 21st century. One source of the district’s growth is the city of Harrisburg itself, which, with about 5,000 people, is five times bigger than in 2000. The other source is the urban sprawl of Sioux Falls extending southward into the Harrisburg district. Sioux Falls residents, once a tiny fraction in the Harrisburg equation, now make up 60 percent of the head count in Harrisburg schools. Growth of both communities has quadrupled Harrisburg’s K-12 enrollment from 897 in 2003, to 3,583 this fall, a rate exceeding 11 percent a year for more than a decade.

The growth contrasts with much of the rest of South Dakota, where total K-12 numbers dipped during the past decade and now are on a slow upturn. Total enrollment is rising again at slightly more than 1 percent a year across the state, but it is flat or falling in many districts.

“When you look at Harrisburg, it’s one of the fastest growing districts in the state. I would imagine it’s a good problem to have if you’re going to have a challenge with enrollment,” said spokeswoman Mary Stadick Smith at the state Department of Education in Pierre.

Ten years ago, Harrisburg had two schools. It now has eight. Four of them are in Sioux Falls — three elementaries and a middle school. The proposed school at 69th and Bahnson would be a fourth Harrisburg elementary on Sioux Falls’ south rim and would relieve growth problems at the others, said Superintendent Jim Holbeck. Journey Elementary, which opened in 2008 on South Grange Avenue, is at 494 students this fall, up 37 from a year ago, with a capacity of 550. Endeavor Elementary opened a year ago at 95th Street and Western and already is at 444 students.

“That one surprised us. It really went up. Buildings are going up all around it,” Holbeck said.

The other four schools are inside or on the edge of the city of Harrisburg, including the 99-acre high school campus. The high school had 650 students in grades 9-12 a year ago. It has 731 now and is on track to surpass its capacity of 800 by next fall.

The need for room comes from the youth movement. The growth of metro Sioux Falls, including Harrisburg, is fueled by young families. The Harrisburg district’s age distribution is like a cone on a chart, with the lowest grades all exceeding 300 children, including 373 this fall in kindergarten. At the top end, grades 11 and 12 are both under 150. The district has 245 eighth-graders who a year from now would be replacing 142 graduating seniors this year, creating a net gain of 103 at the high school a year from now.

“If nobody moves in or out, just comparing graduating seniors to incoming freshmen ... we have to add on,” Holbeck said.

The expansion would push capacity at the high school to 1,300 and buy the district a few years before the issue comes up again. The three public high schools in Sioux Falls are all near or above 2,000 in enrollment. Harrisburg will have to consider what it wants for its high school, Holbeck said.

“How big it’s going to get is a question for somebody else to answer someday,” Holbeck said. “The board will have to decide in the future whether to build onto the high school or split and have two high schools. That decision is five or six years away.”

The vote this fall would include a variety of improvements at the high school, including eight tennis courts, a wrestling room, more parking and upgrades for fine arts and the football field. A “yes” vote, by design, would not raise the school portion of property taxes on existing houses in the district, Holbeck said. Individual homeowners would see an increase if they make improvements to their homes, but otherwise, the school rate would be flat, he said. The expanding tax base, including new houses in the district, makes it possible to keep the school rate flat, he said.

Bond issue

When: Oct. 7.

WHAT: $25 million project, to provide $13.1 million for new elementary school near Bahnson and 69th Street in southeast Sioux Falls, plus $11.9 million to expand high school building on west side of Harrisburg and make other improvements.

WHO: Registered voters in Harrisburg School District, including south section of Sioux Falls.

DETAILS: School board set Oct. 7 election date in 5-0 vote Monday, will consider final ballot language Sept. 8. Vote would require 60 percent support on election day to pass.

Harrisburg enrollment and increase

2002-03 ... 897

2003-04 ... 1,006 ... 12.1%

2004-05 ... 1,057 ... 5.1%

2005-06 ... 1,260 ... 19.2%

2006-07 ... 1,484 ... 17.8%

2007-08 ... 1,628 ... 9.7%

2008-09 ... 1,948 ... 19.7%

2009-10 ... 2,191 ... 12.5%

2010-11 ... 2,389 ... 9.0%

2011-12 ... 2,690 ... 12.6%

2012-13 ... 3,000 ... 11.5%

2013-14 ... 3,274 ... 9.1%

2014-15* ... 3,583 ... 9.4%

Note: Figure for 2014-15 is preliminary. Official head count is end of September.

Source: Harrisburg School District.

Harrisburg schools

1938 ... Liberty Elementary, 200 Willow St., Harrisburg.

2002 ... High school, now South Middle School, 600 S. Cliff, Harrisburg.

2005 ... Explorer Elementary, 4010 W. 82 St., Sioux Falls.

2008 ... Journey Elementary, 6801 S. Grange, Sioux Falls.

2009 ... High school, 1300 W. Willow, Harrisburg.

2011 ... Freedom Elementary, 1101 Tom Sawyer Trail, Harrisburg.

2013 ... Endeavor Elementary, 2401 W. 95 St., Sioux Falls.

2013 ... North Middle School, 2201 W. 95 St., Sioux Falls.

South Dakota K-12 fall enrollment

2003-04 ... 123,058

2004-05 ... 121,327

2005-06 ... 120,682

2006-07 ... 120,277

2007-08 ... 121,089

2008-09 ... 121,015

2009-10 ... 122,055

2010-11 ... 123,629

2011-12 ... 124,739

2012-13 ... 126,759

Source: South Dakota Department of Education