Mandan High School
Blair Emerson
A majority of residents within the Mandan Public School District would support a public vote on building new schools, according to a survey commissioned by the district.
The school board heard the results of the survey at its meeting Tuesday night. Research company School Perceptions said about 1,700 people responded from mid-November to early December; just over 12,000 surveys were sent out.
The survey’s purpose was to educate residents about facility options and gauge how willing the community would be to fund new school buildings, School Perceptions Project Manager Sue Peterson said.
Four Mandan elementary schools and Mandan High School are over capacity. The high school has an enrollment of 1,188 students, with 150 square feet per student. As a comparison, Bismarck High School has an enrollment of 1,218 and 275 square feet per student. An enrollment analysis from February 2020 predicted 430 new students in the Mandan district by 2024.
The district would fund any new construction through a bond via a referendum, and a majority of residents who filled out the survey said they would support the district “exploring a referendum.”
A $15 million elementary school that could hold 430 students received support from 67% of all respondents and 60% of respondents who were neither parents nor district staff.
