MOORHEAD — An overwhelming majority of Moorhead voters on Tuesday, Nov. 5, approved a $110 million bond issue for the city's school district to build a new high school and career academy, and it won't be too long before work begins.
The first phase of construction on the four-wing building is planned for 2021 with an expected completion date of fall 2023. During phase 2, students will move into the new facility while the old high school is torn down and replaced. That section would be ready for move-in by fall 2024.
Superintendent Brandon Lunak applauded the multi-phase construction plan put together by the architects.
"I think that's important because it allows us to keep our kids in the current high school while the new one is being built literally right behind it," he said.
Lunak said the district needed a new school because of the steady student population growth brought by families moving to Moorhead.
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Donna Villiard, a Moorhead homeowner who has spent 70 years watching the city grow said she understands why some residents might be tired of tax increases but still voted yes even though her kids are done with high school.
"They deserve a decent, good place to go and we want people to come into this community," she said. "If we don't have a good school and a nice place for them to learn, then they're not going to want to move here. I wouldn't."
The bond voters approved will also help open a career academy in the closed Moorhead Sam's Club. It's set to open by fall 2021.
According to numbers from the Clay County Auditors Office, the 7,212 people who voted on the bond make up roughly 30% of Moorhead's eligible voters. Of those votes, 1,754 were against the bond.
