Williston schools to reconfigure next year; two rural schools to close
WILLISTON, N.D. (KUMV) - Earlier this year, the Williston Basin School board approved a long-range facilities plan that would highlight the future for the district. With it in place, they are expecting some big changes starting next school year, and they want the public to be informed.
Williston schools are being temporarily reconfigured towards three grade levels: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. How this impacts you depends on what grade your children will be next year and what school you currently go to. The ones most affected are those that attend the rural schools and Hagan Elementary.
Missouri Ridge, a rural school covering grades 3 thru 8, will become a K-4 school, sending their fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders to Bakken Elementary, The Innovation Academy and Williston Middle School according to the board’s transition year plan. The facility will then take in every student from Garden Valley and 250 students from Hagen Elementary. Superintendent Dr. Richard Faidley said this is all about efficiency.
“It’s going to require individuals to have a few adjustments, but [it’s for] the betterment of efficiency, financially, the community in terms of how we provide services to students,” said Dr. Richard Faidley, Superintendent.
Garden Valley is not the only school on the chopping block. Round Prairie will also be closed, with their students moving to either Bakken or Lewis and Clark Elementary. Faidley said declining enrollment is the reason for those two schools to close, which has some parents disappointed.
“From our house to Bakken [Elementary] is about a 30-35 minute drive. Right now, it’s a two-minute drive to [Round Prairie]. So we would either have her go to Trenton or Bainville because both those busses come to our subdivision. We’re actually closer to those schools than we are to Williston,” said Holly Radke, who has a student attending Round Prairie.
Faidley said he plans on holding several town halls over the school year to discuss with stakeholders and members of the public.
“As we navigate through this complex process, we will be gathering input. We will be asking questions of our community. We will be accepting those responses and processing the data that comes in, with the ultimate goal of trying to do better than what we’ve done before,” said Faidley.
The dates for those meetings have not yet been announced.
This is just the beginning of a series of moves that the administration feels will alleviate overcrowding. Next year, the district plans on holding a bond election for two new elementary schools.
Down the line, Faidley said the goal is to establish boundaries for the district, as well as a permanent reconfiguration of K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 schools.
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