School Bond Election Tomorrow | Video

Kristin Clouston | 9/17/2012

Tomorrow, Bismarck voters will decide whether to pay for a new high school and two new elementary schools to accommodate a growing number of students. If approved, property taxes would go up about nine dollars a month for a $150,000 house. Bismarck had a record enrollment this year and schools are having to be creative with their space crunch.

At Centennial, the halls are alive with the sound of music because orchestra class meets underneath a stairwell.

"With the amount of students I have in some of the classes between 10 to 16 or 19 is my largest, really loud when we`re all playing together. Sometimes on the louder days when we`re playing really loud music I put in earplugs for protection," said teacher Jeremy Overbeck.

The kids in the newly added Kindergarten section make themselves at home in their cozy little apartment behind the gym, a fifth grade class uses folding tables for desks in a former computer lab and 89 students use portable classrooms.

"Centennial is full of bright young students ready to be educated and we are providing that education in the best possible space we got," said Centennial Principal Tyler Hanson.

The principal says having to find space is a challenge, but they`re doing the best they can and he hopes everyone who can will get out and vote.

If the three new schools are approved, improvements would also be made to existing schools. Plus, sixth grade would move to middle school, and ninth grade would move to high school. The vote will need a 60 percent approval to pass.

You can vote at any Bismarck elementary school, the BECEP at Richolt or Lincoln City Hall tomorrow between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

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