Simplified: Sioux Falls high schoolers will soon have a new facility where they can learn about caring for farm animals, maintaining a tractor, horticulture and all things urban agriculture.
Why it matters
- Sioux Falls School Board members last week received an update on several future building projects planned throughout the district – the most immediate of which is a new urban agriculture addition to the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Academy.
- The goal of the addition is to create flexible learning space where kids can get hands-on experience in agriculture, South Dakota's largest industry.
- In addition to a new barn, the addition will include a greenhouse, animal science classroom, equipment storage and horticulture classroom – all aimed at creating a flexible space where the district can teach industry-specific classes.
"The ag umbrella, it's enormous," CTE Principal Josh Hall said. "This larger facility will allow us to do a greater number of programs and courses."
Tell me more
Plans for the new facility came together with the help of several industry partners including agribusiness cooperative CHS, Landscape Garden Centers, South Dakota State University and more.
"I appreciate the help from that committee to help determine what needed to happen as far as that facility goes and what needed to be included," Hall said.
The state also awarded the district a $1 million grant to support its growing agriculture program. Those funds were, in part, used to purchase a large tractor.
What happens next?
The district is expected to hold a public hearing for the project at the upcoming Oct. 15 school board meeting.
If all is approved, the district will open the project up for bids and plan to have the project completed by December 2025.
