SAUK RAPIDS - Increasing enrollment in the Sauk Rapids-Rice district is leading to potential space crunches in their buildings.

The district recently approved the process to hire an architect to study its buildings. The selected architect will work with the community to study facility needs in the district.

Superintendent Dan Bittman says they will review the findings of the study in the late spring or summer.

Bittman says the district is also seeing increased use of its buildings by community groups throughout the day.

The district hopes to hire an architect in a couple of months and complete a study of its facilities by the summer.

The Sauk Rapids-Rice district has seen growth of over 550 students over the last five years. Bittman says the district is starting to run into space crunches with close to 4,200 students enrolled now.

Other area school districts are also working with architects and facilities. The St. Cloud area school district is in progress of potentially building a new Tech High School and renovating Apollo High School. The Sartell-St. Stephen district also announced this week that they hired an architect team to study its facilities.

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