West Fargo School District will adjust school boundaries if upcoming vote fails

WEST FARGO — School district boundary changes can be one of the most disruptive events for a student and their family because changing schools, routines, friends and teams can be difficult.

But West Fargo School District leaders say school boundaries will have to change if the district suffers a second failed bond referendum on Feb. 17.

"(The school district) is committed to providing stability for our learners and families, which is why we always strive to minimize boundary adjustments, Superintendent Beth Slette said. "However, with the rapid growth in our district, every square foot counts."

On Monday, Feb. 17, district voters will be asked to approve up to $162.7 million in building bonds by answering three ballot questions. The ballot questions outline three phases of construction, each of which has specific projects within it. If voters approve all three questions, the total bond referendum could hit $162.7 million, but if voters approve only the first question, the bond may be less than $100 million.

The first question will ask voters to approve a $99.6 million bond referendum. That includes completion of the $36 million expansion of Horace High School, $22.6 million expansion of Heritage Middle School, as well as adding multipurpose rooms at West Fargo High School and Horace High School and inclusive playgrounds at the Early Childhood Center, 330 3rd Ave. E. in West Fargo. It would also improve special education spaces, add classroom space for early childhood special education, renovate and expand South Elementary School, plus add security upgrades and restroom renovations to schools across the district.

The second question asks for approval of $58 million for elementary renovations, a new elementary school, acquisition of land and a second expansion of space for early childhood special education programming. Officials consider these projects "intermediate needs" to be completed in the next six to 10 years.

The third question asks for $5 million for the Veterans Memorial Arena Project. The West Fargo Youth Hockey Association has asked the school district and West Fargo Park District to each contribute $5 million to the $20 million project that will add a third sheet of ice at the arena. The nonprofit association plans to raise $10 million for the project.

The passage of each question is contingent on the passage of the question preceding it. This means that for question No. 2 to pass, question No. 1 must be approved, and for question No. 3 to pass, questions No. 1 and No. 2 must be approved.

Although district voters overwhelmingly approved bond referendums of $98.1 million in 2015 and $106.9 million in 2018, a similar $147 million referendum failed in September 2023.

If question No. 1 does not pass this year, school district officials say the boundaries for all three high school feeder systems will likely need to be adjusted to balance enrollment across the district starting as early as the 2026-27 school year.

"If the bond referendum fails, we will need to adjust boundaries to balance enrollment, which includes shifting portions of our community to different feeder systems," Slette said.

The boundaries would likely be drawn so that certain elementary schools that currently send students to Liberty Middle School and Sheyenne High School would instead send students to Cheney Middle School and West Fargo High School.

Meanwhile, some elementary students now feeding Heritage Middle School and Horace High School would shift to Liberty Middle School and Sheyenne High School.

Troy Becker/The Forum

All students could be affected by boundary changes, including students entering their senior year, said district spokeswoman Heather Leas.

District officials say the boundary changes would help spread out growth across the district, but it will also likely increase class sizes. Class sizes would increase by about 14%, to an average of 30 students per class at the high school level. The average class size across the district is now less than 25, Slette said.

Horace High School and Heritage Middle School would feel the effects of larger class sizes, or an average of 30 students per class, starting in the 2025-26 school year, Slette said.

"These larger class sizes are a direct result of the failed 2023 referendum, and without additional classrooms, the entire district will face similar challenges in just a few years," Slette said. "The reality is that we do not have enough space to provide the quality education our community expects and our learners deserve unless we add more classrooms."

The upcoming bond referendum is the district's attempt to keep up with its meteoric enrollment growth. West Fargo's district has grown by about 300 to 400 students each year over the past decade. In 2020, West Fargo School District surpassed Fargo Public Schools to become the second largest district in the state, behind Bismarck Public Schools.

The district expects to be at capacity or over capacity in the next five years at Horace, Independence, Legacy, and Osgood Elementary Schools; Heritage Middle School, Liberty Middle School, Horace High School and Sheyenne High School. The latest projections, released in February 2024, estimate that about 1,369 students will join the district in the next five years, or about 14,255 students will be enrolled in the 2028-29 school year.

Over the next five years, elementary enrollment is projected to increase to 6,806 in 2028-29. The middle school enrollment is expected to rise to 3,342 students by 2028-29, and the high school enrollment will increase to 4,107 students by 2028-29.

"While West Fargo High School has some space, it remains one of the largest high schools in North Dakota and only has 15 fewer learners than Sheyenne High," Slette said.

Both West Fargo High School and Sheyenne High School have a preferred capacity of 1,395 and a maximum capacity of 1,550 students, and both schools currently have about 1,400 students. Horace High School, which opened with about 400 students in 2021, now has about 800 students with a preferred capacity of 950 and a maximum capacity of 1,050. An expansion of Horace High School would increase the capacity to about 1,550.

If question No. 1 passes, a capacity for about 300 more students will be added to Heritage Middle School, and a capacity for about 500 students will be added to Horace High School, along with eight classrooms for early childhood special education learners.  If question No. 2 passes, there will be a capacity for up to 552 elementary students, based on 24 classrooms, and another eight classrooms for early childhood special education students.

With the passage of all three questions, the district expects to have sufficient capacity to meet anticipated growth and space needs for at least the next 10 years, Leas said.