RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Rapid City Area School District bond issue was on display Thursday night during one of several Bond Referendum Information Sessions hosted by RCAS.
About 35 people attended the hour-long meeting at South Park Elementary School to hear the district’s presentation about why the $107 million bond is needed, and how the district will proceed if it doesn’t get 60 percent of the vote needed in November.
RCAS has put forward a $107 million bond proposal to address growing needs in the school district including HVAC upgrades ($32 million); safety and security upgrades ($3 million); South Park Elementary addition and renovation ($12 million); a new elementary at the Parkview Property ($40 million); and, Stevens High School safety improvements ($20 million).
“I am very for it,” Amy Blair said after the presentation, citing infrastructure needs as well as security issues. “We have such dilapidated facilities, I feel like all of the students in Rapid City deserve good schools.”
“I grew up in Rapid City,” Blair, who has a fourth grader and sixth grader in the district, said. “I feel like education is the most important thing we can invest in in our community.”
The tax impact of the proposed $107 million bond would be about 49 cents per thousand dollars of a property’s valuation – or about $12.25 a month on a $300,000 property.
Currently, RCAS is following a $79 million capital outlay project plan that was discussed Thursday. Over a 10-year period that plan address North and West middle school and Wilson and South Canyon elementary renovations, and a new Shepherd Hills Elementary.
RCAS Chief Financial and Operations Office Coy Sasse said the proposed bond, if passed, would supplement that existing capital outlay plan.
“The bond is the catalyst that allows the opening up of resources in the capital outlay and allows us to hit that really broad number of projects over that time period,” Sasse said. “We thought it was really important for the community to see that and to understand that this is really a way to address a really broad array of needs and do it in the way that makes the most sense for taxpayers and the district.”
If the bond fails to pass, Sasse said, project timelines will increase up to eight years and cost an additional $20 million driven by inflation, interest payments will increase and the debt service on the district will reduce flexibility for decades to come.
Several bond referendum information sessions are planned both in person and virtual. RCAS also hosts a bond information page on the district website – https://www.rcas.org/page/bond-information.
Information Session Schedule:
Thursday, September 10, 2026
Virtual (Zoom)
7:00–8:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 24, 2026
Valley View Elementary
6:00–7:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Virtual (Zoom)
6:00–7:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Stevens High School Theatre
6:00–7:30 p.m.
