Jill schramm/MDN A Community Building will provide recreational and social activities for the White Shield community when completed this fall.

Three schools on the Fort Berthold Reservation have been getting upgrades. White Shield, Mandaree and Twin Buttes have projects either being completed or initiated in 2021.

White Shield students began taking classes in their new school about 2-¢ years ago, but there’s still work being done.

The latest to be constructed is a sports complex that will replace an old track and field with a modern track and football field, while adding a baseball field, splashpad and hockey rink. White Shield, which hasn’t had a football team since the 1990s, will be organizing a team next fall, said Superintendent Wayne Fox.

The new school building replaced a 1952 building that had code issues and no longer met the needs of modern-day education. The new school’s classrooms are equipped with up-to-date technology, and the building houses a gymnasium that is double the size of the previous gym, which often was inadequate to fully accommodate crowds.

The new facility has attracted additional students, resulting in a growth in the elementary population, Fox said.

Toward the end of 2020, the school completed a new bus barn to replace an older building. The new barn includes three large garage doors, wash facilities, offices and some storage.

Funding for the entire project has come from MHA Nation. Fox credited the tribal council, and particularly council member Fred Fox, for the support for investing into the school.

“I always have to say we are very grateful for that – for gifting this to the community but especially to the students,” Wayne Fox said.

The tribe’s investment hasn’t been limited to the school as construction continues around the school’s neighborhood. A new community center to replace the Ralph Wells Memorial Complex will finish this fall with a movie theater, golf simulators, nutrition store, fitness center, gymnasium, community room and pool with a water park.

A new emergency services building is being constructed for use by the fire department, ambulance service and law enforcement. It will include space for vehicles, training rooms and a small jail. The Elders Building recently was completed.

In Mandaree, the school should be operating in its new building by early August. Superintendent Tara Thomas said the older section of the existing building is literally falling down.

“It’s just super challenging to maintain,” she said.

The school was built on a flood plain so when the water table rises, the bottom level of the building floods, she said. The building has mold and the main boiler quit working this winter.

The building faces other issues as well, making new construction almost imperative.

“We are fortunate that this building project was begun when oil and gas was doing really well,” said Thomas, who noted MHA Nation has been able to fund a good share of the cost from energy revenues.

The new school will be a little bigger, mostly because of the desire to create more space for career and technical education, Thomas said.

“We are going to try to align with our local economy, to teach real kids real skills,” she said.

The new building also will utilize geothermal heating and will integrate the Hidatsa culture into the building design.

The Mandaree district still is looking for donations to complete its sports fields. The desire is to create a football field and track. The school currently lacks a track, despite being known for its track and field and cross-country teams, Thomas said.

The fate of the existing school building, once replaced, remains unknown. The building is owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the newer portion includes two gymnasiums that would have value to the community if kept, Thomas said.

In Twin Buttes, the school board is in the initial stages of planning for construction of a new bus barn and playground for the K-8 elementary school. The school board has requested approval through Indian Affairs’ facilities management.

Once approved, the school board will be seeking a construction project manager and developing the design specifications for the bus barn, said Superintendent Troy Walters.

Walters said the board has been putting away extra cash in its general fund during the oil boom years and believes the $450,000 accumulated in its capital account will be enough to fund a bus barn and playground while maintaining a reserve.

The existing bus barn is an older building with no water connections and only three bus stalls for the district’s five buses.The proposal for the new bus barn is five stalls, with a wash bay, rest rooms, offices and paved area around the building.

The playground project also would need a construction manager before calling for bids. Walters said about 25 playground designs were identified and placed before a building committee and also posted for the students to select a favorite.

Walters said the existing playground is suitable for ages kindergarten through third grade, but there is nothing for older students. The plan is to keep the existing playground and add additional equipment. The new playground will be installed on a portion of the site of the former school, which was removed after the existing school was built about seven years ago.

Should the projects move forward, students could have their new playground by fall. The bus barn likely would begin construction in the fall and be completed late in 2022. The existing bus building will be demolished to make way for the construction.

“Besides the playground, we’re going to put in some basketball courts, maybe a sand volleyball pit,” Walters said. The school also is working with North Dakota State University Extension Service on a grant-supported construction project for a greenhouse.

“I think it would be awesome,” Walters said. “The kids right now are already growing plants in the classroom and they’re just enjoying the heck out of that.”