What would you do with the additional space at the South Campus? The gymnasium addition allows us to improve the quality of our academic and athletic experiences at the Beresford School District. The additional court space would allow us to schedule practices immediately after school. During the winter, both basketball teams could be done by supper time, kids could be home at a decent hour, and the space would be available for community practices. More so, we would be able to honor more requests regarding community youth practice sessions. Instead of having our dance team practice in the high school lobby, our dance team could practice in an area similar to where they compete. When we have our elementary, middle, and high school concerts, we would still be able to be ready for our concerts without needing to set up and clean up multiple times. Play practices would be free of interruptions caused by athletic practices. During the spring, we would be able to have space for indoor track, golf, and softball practices without utilizing our high school hallways and lobby as training areas by necessity. During the school day, our middle school and high school physical education classes would not need to split court space while lunch preparations and clean up happens in the multi-purpose room. The gymnasium addition would allow youth tournaments to take place at one main location with five cross courts of action (e.g., three in the new space and two in our current gymnasium). More so, additional tournaments and experiences would bring more people into the community -people would spend their dollars at our local establishments during the day.
Will the Beresford School District continue to need the opt-out? Yes. Based on current and future needs (projected), the Beresford School District will continue to need an opt-out. An opt-out provides dollars to our general fund. The general fund is the primary fund of the district. All expenses for elementary, middle school, high school, co-curricular, certified staff, administration, classified staff, and custodial are accounted for through the general fund. Approximately 80-85% of the general fund is used to support salaries and benefits to employees. The opt-out helps us provide programming and staffing for our kids. During the 2024-2025 school year, we will recommend that the board approve an opt-out resolution during our January 2025 school board meeting.
Current Opt-Out Details
- Spring 2021 $200,000
- Fall 2021 & Spring 2022 $400,000
- Fall 2022 & Spring 2023 $400,000
- Fall 2023 & Spring 2024 $400,000
- Fall 2024 & Spring 2025 $400,000
- Fall 2025 $200,000
For full project information, go to https://www.beresford.k12.sd.us/page/2022-bond-project.
The bond election is scheduled for Tuesday, September 13, 2022, at the Beresford City Library from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.