SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Summer construction for the Sioux Falls School District has begun and multiple school’s are getting updated before the start of the 2024 school year.
According to Jeff Kreiter, the school district’s operational services director, 22 buildings in the district are getting new carpet, 28 buildings will have new paint, 30 will see concrete repairs and 10 schools will need asphalt repairs.
Kreiter said multiple buildings with hail damage will be getting restored this summer as well. Roosevelt High School, Hayward and Hawthorne Elementary and John F. Kennedy Elementary Schools have a combined $1.1 million in damages to their skylights.
Memorial Middle School and Oscar Howe Elementary School also have hail damage to their roofs from a 2022 storm. The cost comes in at around $1.4 million and is run through insurance, Kreiter said.
Patrick Henry Middle School is getting an $800,000 remodel to its library.
“We’re renovating some classrooms around the library, actually doing the library itself, the ceiling lighting, flooring, some of the tutor rooms and computer classrooms,” Kreiter said.
Kimberly Sharping, the school’s principal, said the library used to have temporary, folding walls for the extra classrooms. Now, those classes for tutoring, multicultural lessons, speech, computer lab and the school psychologist all have permanent rooms.
John Harris Elementary School is also getting an update to the library and kindergarten space.
Kreiter said Horace Mann Elementary School is working on a $500,000 project to fix the roof of the gym and replace the EIFS with brick.
“The roof is at the end of its life,” Kreiter said. “We wanted to do the replacement of the EIFS at the same time, so that was in need of replacement.”
This year, the school district is working to update two playground sets at different schools instead of the usual one. The new playground at Eugene Fields Elementary is expected to cost $98,000 and the one at Lowell Elementary will cost $64,000.
“We usually do at least one a year and we’re gonna start doing two a year so we can make sure we stay within the lifecycle of those units,” Kreiter said.
Lincoln High School is getting quite a few updates including new parking lots, roof replacement, an upgraded carpentry shop and a new first responder intercom system.
Kreiter said Washington High School is undergoing a $1 million reconstruction of its tennis courts.
For school’s like Jefferson High School and Ben Reifel Middle that are less than five years old, Kreiter said they’re fixing minor concrete repairs. He also said they will most likely not need major repairs for at least 20 years.
Upcoming projects
Construction of the new Marcella LeBeau Elementary School in northwest Sioux Falls is coming along, with new walls going up and a road installation coming soon.
Crews have gotten walls up for the gym, administration space, multipurpose cafeteria and the music room. The new, 84,000-square-foot school will be ready for students in August 2025.
The George McGovern Middle School is getting an expansion of their gym that will be used as a Boys and Girls Club. That will also be ready in 2025.
