Sioux Falls school board weighs options to rebuild Whittier Middle again ahead of June vote
The Sioux Falls School District Board of Education heard three options from district officials again about the future of Whittier Middle School before it will vote on those options June 10.
Deciding what to do with Whittier Middle School is one of the last projects of the $190 million bond passed in 2018. That 2018 decision was focused on purchasing lots to the north of the current Whittier Middle School so that a new school could be built on that land while learning continues at the current site. Another bond will be needed in 2027 to actually construct a new Whittier Middle School.
The board will also vote on the new boundaries for Marcella LeBeau Elementary School in that June meeting, boundary changes which move students from the southwesternmost part of the Renberg boundary, students who currently bus to Hawthorne Elementary from the area closest to the new elementary school, and the westernmost portion of the Hayward boundary, to the new school.
Options for future construction at Whittier Middle School include the following:
Building a new school between the current school and the football field by purchasing 39 parcels.
Building a new school on the blocks to the north and northwest of the football field by purchasing 48 parcels.
Building so that the track and field, and the school, essentially switch places and orientations while expanding over the block that currently sits between them, by purchasing 29 parcels.
More: Sioux Falls school board weighs 3 options to rebuild Whittier Middle School in 2028
The district prefers the third option since it has the least amount of impact on the community, Assistant Superintendent Jamie Nold explained. All three options will keep the old Whittier building in place while a new one is built.
The board also heard a new option that would see Cleveland Elementary School students move on to Whittier Middle School for sixth-eighth grade instead of the current Ben Reifel Middle School by the fall of 2030, not by fall 2025 as proposed earlier.
Board members also heard new options for the future of the Spanish immersion program, including:
Adding an additional elementary one-way immersion strand to both Rosa Parks and Marcella LeBeau elementary schools, and splitting middle school immersion students between Edison and Ben Reifel middle schools.
Adding an additional elementary one-way immersion strand to just Rosa Parks Elementary School, and splitting middle school immersion students between Edison, Ben Reifel and George McGovern middle schools.
Splitting middle school immersion students between Edison, Ben Reifel and George McGovern middle schools.
The first two options would see 15 staff hired, and the third would see 12 staff hired. The district favors the third option.
The district is also considering additional options for the future of the community campus, a program for students 18 to 21 years old who’ve graduated high school to transition into adulthood. It’s discussed renovating the current Axtell Park campus for this function, as there are currently 17 students at Axtell Park and 44 at the Western Mall site, where the district’s lease ends in a year and a half.
This same information about potential future changes to the Cleveland and Whittier boundaries, the Spanish immersion program and the future of the community campus will come up as board acknowledgements in future meetings such as the June 10 one.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls school board weighs Whittier Middle School construction
