West Fargo Moving Forward with Yet Another School

Enrollment projections show the school district will need what would become their 20th school

WEST FARGO, ND — West Fargo is going to build yet another elementary school.

It will be the district’s 15th elementary school and 20th overall.

The so-called “city on the grow” continues to do just that.

“We continue to experience relentless growth, particularly on the south side,” said superintendent Dr. David Flowers.

With 19 schools either open or in the works, enrollment is expected to surpass capacity by fall of 2019.

“Both the internal and external projections were overshot, particularly in kindergarten where we had about 980 kindergartners show up,” Dr. Flowers said.

Construction on Willow Park Elementary, West Fargo’s 19th school, has already begun, making the proposed building for the Deer Creek area of South Fargo their 20th school.

“We would not need a vote,”Dr. Flowers added.

The budget for the project is $14 million.

$3 million is already coming in from a bond passed by voters back in 2015.

The other $11 million requires them to dedicate part of their existing building mill levy to the new school.

In other words, it’s money they already have access to.

“We have the dollars and we’re going to behave the same way that we did when we built Legacy,” Dr. Flowers said.

The next step is waiting for a 60 day protest period to pass.

They wish to break ground on the new school by August of 2019.

“It’s an area where a school is needed. We’re transporting the kids in that neighborhood all the way to the west side of the district,” said Dr. Flowers. “We’ll correct that, and allow us to put our children back in the neighborhood elementaries.”

They haven’t named it yet, but superintendent Flowers believes “Deer Creek Elementary” is a definite possibility.

The board selected YHR Partners to design the building.