It looks like the SD House has killed that sparsity funding bill:
A bill to give extra money to small, isolated schools died in a House committee Thursday after several lawmakers said a broader debate is needed on how South Dakota funds education.
The House Education Committee voted 8-6 to kill the so-called sparsity bill, a proposal to direct about $2.6 million in additional state aid to about 18 schools whose boundaries encompass vast stretches of land, mostly west of the Missouri River.
The schools are too far apart to consolidate. If they cease to exist, whole sections of western South Dakota could lose any chance of having families continue to live there, Senate Republican Leader Eric Bogue of Faith argued.
"These districts are so large now,'' Bogue said. "I'm not asking for Faith to have a building and a program similar to Sioux Falls Roosevelt. It's never going to happen. ... I'm identifying districts that are unique, sparse.''
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