At one time, school officials in western North Dakota worried about declining enrollment – leading to contraction and consolidation.
But things have changed. The oil boom means more students – but not just in the Williston Basin. Mandan schools, for example, are preparing for an influx of students.
"We hired RSP Associates of Kansas to come up and look at our demographics," said new Mandan school superintendent Mike Bitz. "They project us to have 502 more students over the next five years. They said we would have 78 this year, and right now we're at 135 new students. We're exceeding their projections."
Bitz says the district has added another section of first grade – and he says if there was room, they would add other grade sections. He says all five grade schools report larger enrollments.
"We have several elementary classes with 26, 27 students -- kindergarten, first, second grade," said Bitz. "We'd like it to be smaller than that."
The school district is asking Mandan voters to approve a bond issue for a new elementary school. That vote comes in September.
