BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The school board for North Dakota’s largest school district is overhauling its governing model.
The Bismarck School Board voted 4-1 earlier this month to hire Colorado-based consultant Aspen Group International LLC to revamp the board’s policies, the Bismarck Tribune reported .
School board members will undergo a $50,000 training program and adopt a new model that they say will bring clarity to their job duties and the role of the superintendent.
“My reading of the governance model (is) it will help facilitate our ability to do a better job as board members and to better serve our community,” said Matt Sagsveen, a board member.
Heide Delorme, who cast the lone dissenting vote, expressed concerns about the district’s budget constraints, which came after lawmakers decided to freeze K-12 funding for the next two years.
“(Funding is) kind of unknown right now,” Delorme said. “I kind of felt like it was a tight year, (and) that I didn’t want to commit to those funds.”
Delorme said she’s not against the model, and that it will be beneficial to define goals for the district.
The school board will receive policy training sessions next year and adopt the model sometime near the end of 2018.
Three seats are up for election on the school board next year. Karl Lembke, school board president, said the new governing model will be useful in educating incoming members about their duties.
“We’re not just doing this for our board … This is something for a future board,” said Lembke.
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
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