Lead-Deadwood School District is having challenges with staffing and enrollment

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - The Lead-Deadwood School District is exploring the possibility of developing a 185-acre plot of land near the Lead Fire Department.

The school district has been dealing with challenges in recent years, including a decline in student enrollment and a teacher shortage. The district’s superintendent says much of that has to do with housing issues and economic hardship, part of which this development could potentially address.

A part of the 185 acre of school land(KOTA/KEVN)

”We have a unique resource that we have this, this chunk of land, and it’s not all usable, developable land, but some of it is. And so we’re going to try and see if we can leverage that resource to kind of influence somewhere on problem-solving on a housing issue,” said Lead-Deadwood School District Superintendent Dr. Erik Person.

Person said the goal is to have available housing and if that standard isn’t met, the district won’t be motivated to do anything with the land.