BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Bismarck residents have approved a $57.5 million bond issue to expand and renovate three middle schools and two high schools in the city.
The bond was approved Tuesday, with 85 percent of voters in favor, The Bismarck Tribune (https://bit.ly/2mlgSDE ) reported.
“I’m very thankful, and I don’t take lightly the investment that the community has made in its schools. That’s no small thing to us,” school district Superintendent Tamara Uselman said.
The vote comes five years after voters approved spending $86.5 million to build two new elementary schools and Legacy High School.
The bond will be used to expand Wachter Middle School, Simle Middle School and Horizon Middle School. It will also be used to create a 650-seat auditorium and third gym court at Bismarck High School, and to construct more classrooms at Century High School.
“I don’t take any pleasure in spending taxpayers’ dollars, but what I appreciate is that the voters validated the process the committee used to identify expansion options,” said Matt Sagsveen, president of the Bismarck School Board.
Last year, the school board assembled a 75-member community task force to review space options at the middle schools. The task force decided additions would be better than building a new school.
Per North Dakota law, the school district will call for construction bids within the next 21 days, said Uselman.
Construction is expected to be completed at the middle schools by fall 2018, and the high school projects are slated to be completed the following year.
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, https://www.bismarcktribune.com
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