Williston Reopening School Building - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Williston Reopening School Building

With Williston Public School expecting nearly 200 new elementary school students this year, school officials have been trying to find places to put them.

And they've decided to have them attend class in a formerly-closed building.
McVay Elementary is being reopened this fall - along with 24 portable classrooms to be erected here - adjacent to the school building.
The state is providing about three million dollars to cover the costs of the temporary classrooms.
But Superintendent Dr. Viola Lafontaine says there are many other costs associated with re-opening the building itself.

(Dr. Viola Lafontaine, Williston Superintendent) "I could not believe how much it is costing to open up that school.  We needed a new fire alarm system, the old one was obsolete, we had to abate the building and had to put in new flood covering.  Hiring teachers alone for the building is 2.4 million.  All those things added up to where we're putting in about 3.8 million dollars in addition to the three million we got from the governor into that building."

Lafontaine says Williston has begun a fund drive to raise extra funds for reopening McVay - and already some people have donated as much as ten thousand dollars to the cause.