The Select Committee on Legislative Relationships with Ellsworth Air Force Base meets on Aug. 12, 2024, at the David Lust Accelerator Building in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
Douglas School District is again asking the state for help building a new elementary school to accommodate rising enrollment caused by Ellsworth Air Force Base.
The district wants the state to contribute $15 million toward the $62 million school construction cost.
Legislation that would have provided the money failed during last winter’s legislative session. The next session begins in January.
The district, in Box Elder, is preparing for an influx of young students from military and civilian families. Approximately $1.5 billion worth of construction is underway at the base to prepare for the arrival of B-21 bombers, which are in development by the Air Force.
The new aircraft will eventually replace the B-1 bombers currently flown at Ellsworth. The base also hosts a squadron that remotely pilots MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft.
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Douglas Superintendent Kevin Case made a presentation Monday in Rapid City during a meeting of the Legislature’s Select Committee on Legislative Relationships with Ellsworth Air Force Base.
“The Douglas School District serves the vast majority of the dependents connected with Ellsworth Air Force Base,” Case said. “The projected exponential student growth of military-connected students far exceeds existing student facility capacity.”
The Air Force projects 1,500 additional students for the area, and Douglas School District anticipates 70% of the new students will enroll in the district’s schools, with a majority at the elementary level.
Case noted that many existing facilities are already at capacity with 2,775 students in grades K-12.
The district has secured $40 million to $42 million in federal funding to build the new elementary school. The district will contribute $5 million to $7 million of its own funding.
According to a Monday presentation by the city of Box Elder, its population has already swollen by 22.5% since 2020 to an estimated 14,512, making it the 10th largest city in the state. The city expects to reach 16,000 residents — not including people living on the base — by 2029. The number of military and civilian personnel living on the base could grow by 30% to more than 14,000 people during the transition from B-1s to B-21s, according to the city’s presentation.
The committee also discussed broader infrastructure needs related to the base, including transportation improvements such as the Exit 63 and I-90 interchange reconstruction set for 2027.
The committee did not discuss a July report from the Air Force on a $456 million B-1 crash at Ellsworth in January. The commander of Ellsworth’s 28th Operations Group was relieved of command following the release of the report, which identified an undisciplined chain of command and unforeseen weather as the causes of the crash.
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