Sioux Falls district drops Spanish immersion elementary plans

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SIOUX FALLS (AP) — The Sioux Falls School District is abandoning plans for a 600-student elementary school in the northwest corner of the district because of waning interest in the Spanish immersion program.

Superintendent Pam Homan tells the media that 125 incoming kindergartners applied for the Spanish immersion lottery last year, which prompted the board to establish a fourth kindergarten class split between two elementary schools.

But Homan says only 93 signed up for the 2013-14 lottery, and the district can't commit to building a school with four classes at each grade level.

The school board is now weighing several options in central Sioux Falls for a smaller school, with three classes at each grade level instead of four. The board will decide what to do during a March 6 work session.

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