Oil Patch Schools in Need - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Oil Patch Schools in Need

The explosion in school enrollments in oil country is creating an emergency situation in some schools.
That's what the superintendent of

Stanley Schools told state legislators this week.
A multi-million dollar school addition project is already underway in Stanley.
But Kent Hjelmstad says schools might need another 200 million dollars to handle hundreds, even thousands more students next year alone.
He said needs range from staff and teachers to buses and building improvements and additions.
Some legislators wondered why an increase in population isn't translating into higher property tax collections to deal with the problem.

Superintendents said that income growth might happen - but for now many new students are living in temporary housing.