Ground broken for $7M Powers Lake school addition

POWERS LAKE, N.D. (AP) - Officials in Powers Lake have broken ground for a $7 million school addition.

The new wing will be attached to the high school in the oil patch community, and an old, inefficient elementary school eventually will be closed. School Board President Roger Helseth tells The Bismarck Tribune (https://bit.ly/1iksPxQ ) that officials one day hope to add a gymnasium.

The project drew headlines earlier this spring when students pitched in pennies to try to help bridge a $1 million shortfall in funding. Principal Sue Gunderson says some adults chipped in and there is now $280,000 in the fund.

Loans, grants and a bond issue approved by voters last October are helping pay for the project made necessary by rapid growth. Elementary school enrollment has nearly tripled in four years.

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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, https://www.bismarcktribune.com