Sioux Falls
Two-Thirds of South Dakota Districts Enroll Fewer Than 500 Students
Elk Mountain School District educates 20 students across 14 grade levels. Six of those grades have zero enrollment. At the other end of the state, Sioux Falls enrolls 24,841. The ratio between the two...
South Dakota Schools Lost 13 Points of White Share in 17 Years
In the 2007-08 school year, roughly 82 of every 100 students in South Dakota's public schools were white. By 2024-25, that figure had fallen to 69. The 13.2 percentage-point drop did not happen becaus...
South Dakota's Hidden Pre-K System Serves 3,284 Children With Zero State Dollars
In 2006, South Dakota reported 1,280 pre-kindergarten students across 110 school districts. By 2025, that number had climbed to 3,284, a 156.6% increase that makes PK one of the fastest-growing segmen...
Harrisburg Has Never Lost a Student. Now What?
Correction (March 15, 2026): An earlier version of this article stated that Brandon Valley grew 69.5% since 2007. The correct figure is 72.5%. The error has been corrected.
24 South Dakota Districts Hit Record Lows
Rapid City Area Schools, the second-largest district in South Dakota, enrolled 12,040 students in 2024-25. That is the lowest figure in the district's recorded history, down 13.9% from its 2012 peak o...
South Dakota Gained Students During COVID. Now the Bill Is Coming Due.
Most states lost students during the pandemic. South Dakota added them.
Kindergarten Down 9% in Three Years
In 2013, South Dakota enrolled 141 kindergartners for every 100 high school seniors. The incoming class was so much larger than the outgoing one that total enrollment grew every year for more than a d...
Rapid City Hits Its Lowest Enrollment on Record
In the 2024-25 school year, South Dakota's statewide enrollment stood 6.9% higher than it did 13 years ago. Its second-largest school district moved in the opposite direction. Rapid City Area Schools ...
One in 11 South Dakota Students Is Now Hispanic
In 2007-08, Hispanic students made up 2.7% of South Dakota's public school enrollment. One in 37 students. A rounding error in a state where white students held an 81.9% supermajority and Native Ameri...
South Dakota's 13-Year Growth Streak Is Over
Correction (March 15, 2026): An earlier version of this article stated Sioux Falls had shed 283 students since its 2023 peak of 25,228; the 283 figure was actually the loss since 2022, not the 2023 pe...