‘We are full’: Harrisburg School District grows by 300 students a year, proposes new elementary school

The Harrisburg School District is trying to stay ahead of its growth.

The fastest-growing school district and city in the state just opened its latest elementary school in 2021, and already Superintendent Tim Graf is calling on residents to approve a plan to build another elementary school.

The district has grown 592 percent over the past two decades, and it has added 300 students a year over the past several years, Graf said.

Construction is already underway for a new middle school and a freshman academy on the border between Harrisburg and Sioux Falls.

“We have to do something,” Graf said. “We are full.”

A meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Liberty Elementary  to discuss the district’s options, and Graf is hoping parents and community members will provide input on the issue.

The district already has an idea to address the issue, and Graf is hoping to garner support to pass a bond as early as this fall.

The district’s proposal is to turn Liberty in central Harrisburg into a combination early childhood center, school district offices and city space, with the gymnasium and common area available for community events.

A new elementary school would be built in southern Harrisburg, moving older children from Liberty while keeping part of Liberty for Headstart through kindergarten or first grade. This would add classroom space at Adventure and Legacy elementaries as well, Graf said, since the early childhood programs had been outsourced to the other buildings to make space at Liberty over the years.

“The city already uses a corner of the Liberty library,” Graf said. “This would give them additional space to use and additional infrastructure instead of spending money on a community center. It gives both entities a way forward to deal with the demands both the city and school are experiencing.”

The school district is pursuing an aggressive timeline, hoping to vote on a bond this fall and open the elementary by the 2024-25 school year. With 300 new students a year, that simply makes sense, Graf said.

“I don’t want to say that’s a new school every year, but that’s not far off,” Graf said. “I think we’re positioned well for secondary schools over the next few years, but Adventure Elementary just opened last year, and there are only a couple empty classrooms left already. We’re not saying we need to address that now, but we know that in the next few years we’ll have to have another elementary school on top of Liberty to be built as well.”

Growth is so quick in Harrisburg that instead of raising property taxes across the city, the district would keep the mill levy the same and use the tax revenue from the new houses being built in the district. The tax amount doesn’t change, but it raises enough to build a school, Graf explained.

There are three housing developments underway within the Liberty boundaries. Enrollment at Liberty is up by 40 children from the most recent  school year, and there is only one room remaining at Liberty for this school year.

“It’s quick, but that’s because we’re flat out of space,” Graf said. “I drive through these developments weekly, and it’s another two homes being built a week in these developments. That’s usually one to one-and-a-half kids per household. We know they’re coming with the hundreds of lots that are being built upon.”