Simplified: The Sioux Falls School District is looking for volunteers to serve on a task force looking at needed facility improvements across the district. That task force will also consider recommendations to replace the more than 100-year-old Whittier Middle School, a process the district has been preparing for for several years now. Here's what you need to know.

Why it matters

  • The district is asking the public to apply to serve on what it anticipates will be a 30-member task force looking at not just Whittier, but all Sioux Falls School District buildings. The hope is this group – with the help of The Donovan Group, a Wisconsin-based consulting firm – will bring recommendations to the board.
  • Those recommendations will likely then feed into a future bond vote. The last time the Sioux Falls School District convened a facilities task force was 2018, and the resulting plan brought a $180 million bond to fund three new school buildings. Now, all three of those are completed and in-use by students: Jefferson High School, Ben Reifel Middle School and Marcella LeBeau Elementary School.
  • It's unlikely the scope of the work for the 2026 task force will be as focused on new buildings as the group eight years ago. The district's enrollment has leveled off in recent years, and overcrowding is less of an issue than it was in 2018. However, the task force will be asked to look at growth potential, as well as ensuring existing buildings are, as admin put it, "safe, secure and welcoming."
"Our community owns our schools and is a relevant part of our schools," Superintendent Jamie Nold said. "And we want their voice, and we want them to be heard."

Tell me more

The hope is for the task force to have a group with as many differing perspectives as possible.

  • That'll likely include current parents, students and teachers, as well as people from a variety of career fields and from across the entire district.

Task force members will be asked to meet from approximately 5:30 to 8 p.m. on the following Wednesdays:

  • April 8
  • April 22
  • May 6
  • May 20

Task force recommendations will then be given to the consultants with Donovan Group, who are expected to present their recommendations to the board in August.

  • It'll then be up to the board to decide what to do with those recommendations and take any action on a bond needed to fund them.

How do I apply?

Fill out this form.