The North DeSoto community is a great place to live! The area has seen tremendous growth and there is more on the way. More than 130 new addresses have been approved and in addition to 12 subdivisions with up to 500 lots currently in the planning or development phase. The DeSoto Parish School Board has had to increase capacity in the North DeSoto schools before and by allowing voters to consider this proposal, are giving the community a chance to decide what happens in the future.
For North DeSoto Upper Elementary School, this growth can be seen in our classrooms and hallways. While other schools in the area have seen a push for lower class sizes at the elementary level, North DeSoto Upper Elementary School cannot have comparable class size decreases because of space constraints.
“We’ve tried to maintain that low teacher to pupil ratio and as we are growing, we need to continue to move in that direction,” said Principal Casey Hamon. “The more growth that we have, the more opportunities we can give our kids, and we are looking forward to weathering this change together and growing with our booming population.”
While the November 2023 Bond plan doesn’t directly impact North DeSoto Upper Elementary School, the plan to reconfigure grades among different facilities would allow class sizes to be lowered to the parish standard of 20:1 student to teacher ratio for upper elementary grades. Teaching and learning is the most important function of any school and the plan reflects that commitment. Spaces dedicated to teaching, learning, career development, and specialist areas are more than 75% of the plan with a smaller piece being spent on spaces for athletics and extracurricular activities.
Five-year enrollment projections show that continued growth is expected for the North DeSoto area. Additions were made in 2014 at the upper elementary and middle schools, which are now full. All of the schools in the North DeSoto area are at, or near maximum capacity with more growth on the horizon.
If the bond is not approved by voters, North DeSoto High School and its feeder campuses will likely experience severe overcrowding. Because of spacing concerns, the district would be unable to expand academic offerings and create new modern programming. Due to rising costs and projected inflation, the $130 million project would cost $140 million if started in 2026.
Election day is Saturday, Nov. 18 and early voting begins on Saturday, Nov. 4. Get more information at www.desotopsb.com/NDBond