North Dakota School Board Approves New $94.5M High School

The Mandan School Board in Mandan, N.D., recently approved the construction of a new, $94.5-million high school. The new Mandan High School is set to replace the existing facility of the same name, which is scheduled for demolition once students transition to the new space. Construction by Northwest Contracting is scheduled to begin soon and finish in time for the beginning of the 2024–25 academic year, according to local news.

Funding for the project comes from an $84-million bond referendum that voters approved in April 2021. The referendum was for the construction of a new high school and a new elementary school in the nearby Lakewood area. Local news reports that construction on the new Lakewood Elementary is underway and is scheduled for completion in fall 2023. Additional funds will come from multiple sources like a successful Career & Technical Education (CTE) grant; the sale of property surrounding the two new schools; and various sponsorship opportunities and public-private partnerships.

“While the cost of the buildings has increased substantially over the last year, due to inflation, taxpayers can still expect to pay the $99.00 per $100,000 of property they own,” said Sheldon Wolf, Mandan School Board President. “This was the estimate that was shared by school officials during the school referendum informational meetings last year.”

Rising construction costs and funding limits have caused a few projects that were part of the original plan to be put on hold—such as a new swimming pool attached to the high school. The district said that the pool has already been designed and can be added when funds become available.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Spaces4Learning Announces 2026 Product Award Winners

    Spaces4Learning has just announced the winners of the 2026 Product Awards! The award program spotlights outstanding product development achievements of manufacturers and suppliers whose products or services are considered to be particularly noteworthy in their ability to enhance K–12 and higher-education learning environments.

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.

  • Philadelphia Middle School Facility Earns LEED Gold Certification

    The Alternative Middle Years (AMY) at James Martin Middle School in Philadelphia, Penn., recently received a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a news release. The School District of Pennsylvania partnered with KSS Architects on the project.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.