Renberg Elementary School will close at the end of the 2026-27 school year after the Sioux Falls School Board voted unanimously to shut down the facility, Sioux Falls Simplified reported.
Enrollment at the school dropped from nearly 200 students in 2018 down to 87 students. Shifts to Hawthorne Elementary during a 2022 redistricting and to Marcella LeBeau Elementary in 2025 drove the decline. Closing the building will save the district between $500,000 and $700,000 annually.
The board approved new attendance boundaries for fall 2027 in a separate vote. Students living west of the Big Sioux River will attend Marcella LeBeau Elementary, while those living east of the river will go to Laura B. Anderson Elementary, The Dakota Scout reported.
Assistant Superintendent Dan Conrad said that further enrollment growth is unlikely because future development in the area is absent from the City of Sioux Falls‘ 2050 plan. Conversations about closing the facility began last fall before the board voted to keep it open for another year to gather community feedback.
“We sometimes have to vote with our heads and not our hearts,” said Board Member Gail Swenson. “This was a decision of the head, not the heart … I think all of our hearts are with Renberg. It’s a great place.”
District officials are working with current staff members to help them find new placements. Families currently at Renberg can apply for open enrollment when the annual application window opens on Dec. 1.
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