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Survey projects 58% support for $125 million Rapid City Area Schools bond; board urged to consider scope changes
Summary
School Perceptions reported a 58% projected voter approval for a $125 million bond at a district study session, short of South Dakota's 60% supermajority requirement; board members and consultants flagged tax impact and Stevens High School work as key drivers of resistance.
At a Rapid City Area School District 51-4 study session, consultant Darren Sievers of School Perceptions presented results of a facilities survey that projects 58% voter support for a proposed $125,000,000 bond referendum, with a reported margin of error of plus or minus 1.35 percentage points. The figure falls short of the 60% plus one-vote supermajority required for school bond approval in South Dakota.
The survey result matters because the bond under consideration would fund district-wide needs identified in the facilities master plan — including HVAC upgrades, security and overcrowding remedies, and proposed improvements at Stevens High School. Sievers said the firm received 5,523 returned surveys from 45,505 mailed and that those responses produced a weighted projection of 58% support. “There is enough weighted support, 58%, for the proposed bond or referendum to take it to the ballot and let voters decide,” Sievers said during the presentation.
School Perceptions described its methodology and respondent mix during the presentation. The firm…
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