By Alan Van Ormer
Tribune editor

A new elementary school building is expected to help the Dell Rapids School District meet the basic needs for student safety and meet the basic needs for academic achievement.
Elementary School Principal Dr. John Jewett said the school district meets the needs of all the children that come to the school and sees itself as an early childhood center. “Our mission is to help every kid to have an equal start to be successful in school,” he said. “Kids are in our building from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at night. School buildings have to be a kid friendly place.”
On Monday, school district voters will decide whether a new elementary school will be built by deciding on a $10.99 million bond election. If the vote reaches 60 percent approval, the tax levy would increase $1.36 per $1,000 of valuation.
Currently, students are taking classes in a main building and four outside buildings. The new school would have all the students in one building.
Jewett said when children are in separate buildings they don’t have equal access to the resources and all the programs throughout the school.
Meeting the basic needs for academic achievement is one reason why a new elementary school is being planned.
School Superintendent Tom Ludens said that with the current room sizes, teachers are limited in what they can do academically. The actual floor space in some rooms is only 23 feet, according to Ludens. “For extra help, students have to go into the hallway,” he said. “Larger rooms will help teachers with learning instructional materials.”
School officials have had to create 10 more spaces for special educational services in the current building, according to Jewett. That has pushed three fourth grade classes and a third grade class out into temporary buildings on the playground. “In order to meet the needs of all of our students, we don’t have space for all the programs that are required,” Jewett said.
Also, our original building was built where they had two electrical outlets in each room – one at front and one at back. This has an impact on the elementary school’s technology program.
Ludens said the current building couldn’t keep up with the technology changes.
On Thursday, first grade teacher Pam Leib was working with her students on math sequencing using the SMART board program. She is the only first grade teacher using the technology.
The SMART board technology allowed Leib to see which students were able to get the correct answers in the sequencing problems. It also provides instant results for the students and everyone has to respond to the questions.
“Technology is such a big thing. The kids have to know technology,” she said.
Now, Leib said she is limited in what she can do with technology at this point.
“Now, we have to place our technology equipment in a place where there is an opening,” she said. “In the new school, we can plan and organize the technology equipment to be more efficient for teaching and student learning.”
Overall, Jewett said the way teachers are trained, the current building doesn’t work with the old classrooms. “In order to make it temporarily, we have adapted the building,” he said.
“Rather than have classrooms, we take out walls in two offices to make a classroom.”
The Dell Rapids Board of Education has looked at other solutions to help meet the basic needs for academic achievement, said Ludens. The options included adding onto the current building or adding a second floor.
A second floor would impact students who need to have ADA accessibility. Adding on to the current building would lose playground space.
In addition, the Board of Education had discussed closing one of the streets around the school. However, Ludens said it would need homeowners’ approval and shutting off driveways.
“They might not be willing to do that,” he said.
In addition, Ludens said the additions would be almost as expensive as a new building.
The school district is also concerned about safety around the elementary school.
Right now, Ludens said there is not parking space or bus pick up and drop off space and the school board is concerned about that.
The new building would provide an area for bus parking and for student pick up and drop off. It would also have a place for teachers to park.
Also, currently the school office is in an area that a person could walk into the school building without being noticed. In the new building, the office would be near the entrance.
“Everything happening would be seen,” Ludens said.
In addition, the school building is not ADA accessible. There are stairs and the bathrooms and classrooms do not meet ADA accessibility requirements, according to Ludens.
As for other solutions, Ludens said there were none for parking and picking up or dropping off students. “When the buses parked, they always blocked the street a bit,” he said.
Ludens said the Board of Education has looked all the solutions brought to them.
“I can’t think of any solution we haven’t looked at,” he said.