Sioux Falls School Board Votes To Close Two School & Replace One

A plan to close Longfellow, Jefferson and Mark Twain elementary schools in Sioux Falls and build a larger, two-story school at the Mark Twain site gets school board votes Monday night.

Sioux Falls School Board voted 4-1 to close Longfellow and Jefferson, replace Mark Twain as the discussion was heated.

The prospect of losing their small, neighborhood schools was the main discussion and troubling to some parents.

Administrators project a new elementary school would cost $10 million to build and with the cost to operate the school they project the consolidation plan could pay for itself in three years.

Others argue it feels like a wise idea for the betterment of the district.

Longfellow is located on 1115 S. Fourth Ave. is the oldest built in 1916.

Mark Twain is located at 315 W. 27th St and built in 1920.

Jefferson at 1620 S. Lake Ave. was built in 1948. Students could be sent to either Laura Wilder or the new Mark Twain school.

There was an argument to save the schools for another 20 years of classes and that plan would be costly, $8.2 million in repairs and and wheelchair-access upgrades at Longfellow and Mark Twain.