STURGIS, S.D. – The Meade 46-1 School Board held a public forum prior to their meeting last night to discuss the future need for more school space in Piedmont and Summerset.
The meeting was held at the Stagebarn Middle School gymnasium, where the board heard comments from citizens concerned about the future growth. Among the topics discussed – strategic planning and a new high school.
The talk of a new high school in Piedmont has been a hot topic for years, especially since the completion of the new Stagebarn Middle School. As of now, high school-aged students must attend school in either Rapid City or Sturgis. However, Superintendent Don Kirkegaard says building a new high school could be a tough sell.
“So there are a couple of ways to build a new high school, one is through capital outlay certificates and the other is through a general obligation bond,” Kirkegaard says. “The board would have to make those decisions and I don’t believe you can do capital outlay certificates to the level you would need to build a new high school because there are some requirements plus you have to be able to pay them back. And, then the other part, a general obligation bond would need enough community support to pass.”
In Piedmont, the elementary was at capacity until the middle school opened, and as of now, they are not at capacity at this time. Kirkegaard says they are using some of their federal money to add on to Piedmont elementary.
“We are using some of our federal money as well as some of our reserves to add eight classrooms on to Piedmont Elementary and hopefully they’ll start that project this summer and it will be done a year from this fall.”
Kirkegaard says Stagebarn Middle School still has some room to grow, and the district also has some land available for future growth.
The district purchased approximately eight acres of land just east of the new middle school last fall.
Board members took into consideration last night’s comments, and will use those as they work towards the potential future growth in Piedmont and Summerset.
