Latest news with #GrandForksPublicSchools'
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mixed progress on reading, math proficiency goals for Grand Forks students
Apr. 14—GRAND FORKS — Student test scores showed mixed progress on Grand Forks Public Schools' proficiency goals, according to data shared at a Monday School Board meeting. According to Renaissance Star test results taken over the winter, three of five selected grade cohorts were meeting proficiency benchmarks in early literacy and reading, as were three of the five grade cohorts measured by mathematics scores. The district set five-year student performance goals based on the Star assessment during the 2023-24 school year. "We still have more work to do, but we're pleased with where we're at," Superintendent Terry Brenner said. Kindergarteners and first-graders met benchmarks for early literacy, while second-graders, and fourth- and fifth-graders met proficiency benchmarks for reading. Third-graders and sixth-, eighth- and 10th-graders fell behind reading targets. In mathematics, eighth-graders and sixth- and seventh-graders did not meet their benchmarks, but all other groups did. Administrators were able to shed light on why some groups underperformed. Associate Superintendent Catherine Gillach pointed out that the district's sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders were "COVID kids" who had spent some of their first years of school online during the pandemic. Third-graders weren't, though, Brenner pointed out, adding schools would need to take a closer look at this group to see how to improve their performance. Low-income, multilingual and special education students posted lower scores than the general population and often did not meet benchmarks, a consistent theme in district assessments. Racial disparities also remained present across all age groups. None of the district's multilingual 10th-graders met performance benchmarks in math, though Chief Academic Officer Amy Bartsch pointed out that parents can ask for their children to opt out of the Star test. Brenner told the Herald the increases in multilingual students over the prior school year, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for less than a year, could have also driven down performance for ML students. Bartsch said the district had hired interventionists and reading specialists to help underperforming students, but noted the district did not have the financial resources to meet all of the needs in Grand Forks' schools. "There just isn't enough people to provide all the support the data has indicated is necessary," Bartsch said. Changes at the state and federal level could significantly alter how the district reviews student test scores going forward. Brenner said it was likely that the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the nation's schools would likely preclude the district from breaking down data by race and ethnicity in the future, an outcome he called "very sad for public education." He told the Herald it could also mean the district could not examine data broken down by multilingual, special education and low-income students, but was waiting to find out how the U.S. Education Department interpreted President Donald Trump's executive orders. "Most superintendents just have their heads on a swivel right now, and we're waiting for what comes next," Brenner said. The Renaissance Star tests, which are administered three times a year, are meant to gauge student performance on North Dakota's statewide assessment. This spring, the state will use a new assessment, the North Dakota Academic Progression of Learning and Understanding of Students, with a new standard for proficiency. That may mean that Grand Forks will have to adjust its proficiency goals on its Renaissance Star assessments, depending on how students perform on the new assessment and what North Dakota deems proficiency. "Let's say we take the ND A-PLUS and our kids are 90% proficient. We have to redo the (Renaissance Star) proficiency goals," Bartsch said. "Let's say we take the ND A-PLUS and our kids are 20% proficient. We have to redo the proficiency goals." In other news, * Board members voted to waive liquidation fees for a Valley Middle School math teacher who resigned April 4. Robert Waddle resigned effective immediately earlier this month; administrators recommended the fee waiver "due to circumstances and reasons remaining undisclosed." * Bargaining units representing Grand Forks Public Schools' principals and directors will delay negotiations until after May 2, when the Legislature is set to close out its 2025 session. School Board members agreed to separate requests submitted by both entities.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bathroom bill would set back Valley Middle School construction, cost at least $135,000
Mar. 28—GRAND FORKS — A bill implementing new restrictions on student bathroom use at North Dakota public schools could set back construction on the new Valley Middle School at least a month, according to a school official. Jonathan Ellwein, Grand Forks Public Schools' building and grounds director, said the bill's ban on shared sinks will require the district to backtrack on completed work and revise its plans for the building's other bathrooms. "The lead on that bill is, if it passes as written, Valley doesn't open on time," Ellwein said March 21. House Bill 1144, which passed the House last month, seeks to impose new restrictions on transgender K-12 students' bathroom use and the public schools those students attend. The bill is now working its way through the Senate. Proponents say the bill protects students' privacy and "transgender ideology." Critics say the bill makes a target out of trans students, some of whom already avoid school bathrooms to avoid harassment and abuse. The bill that passed the House says, among other things, "a restroom for males and a restroom for females may not be located together with a communal sink or communal area where students can enter and exit an individual stall or room." Noncompliant schools face an up to $2,500 fine per violation. Five of the new Valley's bathrooms were set to include communal sinks outside of separate bathrooms for boys and girls. Ellwein says construction workers had already poured concrete for one restroom with shared sink facilities that would have to be reworked. "We'd have to cut concrete, we'd have to move plumbing, we'd have to move electrical, we'd have to move walls in order to be compliant," he said. A change order for that restroom alone would cost the district $135,214 and an extra 30 days' work. He said construction workers have so far held off on pouring concrete where the other bathrooms are set to be located, but will have to decide in the next two to three weeks whether to go forward with the existing plans and face the fines or rework those other spaces — which will cost more time and money. Ellwein said bathroom facilities with shared sinks are meant to allow teachers to better supervise students. The feature has gone in and out of style — Ellwein says common wash areas are more common in school buildings designed between the late 1970s and the 1990s — and have again become popular in school construction with the move toward single-occupancy restrooms. The new Valley would be just the latest of several schools within the district with facilities that run afoul of the bill in its current form. All told, Ellwein counts 77 bathrooms across district schools that are out of compliance with the bill, at seven elementary schools, Nathan Twining Elementary and Middle School, and South Middle School. That includes 71 bathrooms, mostly located in kindergarten classrooms, where students access a toilet in a private room and use the classroom sink to wash their hands. Ellwein says the bill's language around "communal sinks" would disallow this setup and force "large scale changes" to bring the kindergarten facilities into compliance. Ellwein calculated a uniform per-project cost of $25,000, meaning it would cost the district more than $1.9 million to renovate all its bathrooms. He said the high per-project estimate was based on the need to make any new bathrooms compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which became law in 1990. Design plans for the new Twining school, set to be built on Grand Forks Air Force Base, include two facilities that would be considered noncompliant under the bill. Ellwein said changing those plans would incur minimal cost at this stage. Rep. Kathy Frelich, R-Devils Lake, has proposed an amendment that would exempt facilities serving students in fourth grade and younger or bathroom facilities "in existence on July 1, 2025." Ellwein says this would likely address many of his concerns about the school district's existing facilities, but says the use of the phrase "in existence" is unclear about bathrooms under construction. Frelich did not return a request for comment. Among those who voted for the bill in the House is Rep. Mark Sanford, R-Grand Forks. Sanford served as Grand Forks Public Schools' superintendent from 1981 to 2007, meaning he led the district when three of the schools with noncompliant bathrooms were constructed: South, Phoenix and Century Elementary. Century was built in 1989 and, along with the current Twining school, has 18 noncompliant bathrooms, the most in the district. Sanford did not return a request for comment. Ellwein also expressed concern on the impact the bill would have on smaller, rural districts, that have smaller financial reserves to draw on than large districts like Grand Forks. An estimate from the North Dakota Council on Educational Leadership calculates the cost of the current bill at $140 to $200 million.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Grand Forks Public Schools seeing few of its legislative goals advance
Mar. 26—GRAND FORKS — Just over halfway through the legislative session, many of Grand Forks Public Schools' policy goals are on ice. Forty-eight days into the 2025 legislative session, few of the proposals administrators and School Board members hoped for — and floated to state lawmakers — seem likely to become law. Bills increasing overall state funding or support for specific programs have been cut back or died on the floor, while legislation directing state dollars to private schools has trucked forward despite widespread opposition from public schools and teachers unions. "Even if bills showed strong support in the first half, this is the part where the rubber hits the road," district Business Manager Brandon Baumbach said. "I take the position of patience and doing the work." School funding bills appear largely set to fall short of the district's hopes. Superintendent Terry Brenner in December floated a 4% increase in state aid to schools for the 2025-26 school year. House Bill 1013, which passed the House 72-17 last month, only allocates a 2% increase for next year, with another 2% for 2026-27. A competing funding bill, HB 1369, at one point included funding formula increases for English learners and special education students — a cost the district has increasingly shouldered in recent years — but saw that provision stripped out in the version passed by the House. Bills offering free school meals for all students died in the House, and funding to cover cost overruns for the Grand Forks Career Impact Academy and other career and technical education centers across the state didn't make the Senate bill funding the Department of Career and Technical Education. Meanwhile, two bills that would create educational savings accounts for North Dakota students continue to work their way through the House and Senate. District officials oppose any kind of school choice legislation, though Brenner acknowledged last year that some form of school choice was likely to pass. At last week's Government Affairs Committee meeting, board member Jay Kleven floated the prospect of backing one bill over the other as a "pragmatic" compromise measure. Baumbach said Friday he's hopeful a lackluster revenue forecast earlier this month could tank school choice for another two years. "Even if they want to establish educational savings accounts — if it's a priority of this Legislature that might remain a priority, but with the budget forecast, it may say, 'things are getting too expensive, maybe we won't do that this time,"" Baumbach said. Grand Forks has racked up at least one win. On Monday, Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed Senate Bill 2149, which will allow school districts located on Air Force bases — like Grand Forks Air Force Base's Nathan Twining Elementary and Middle School — to access low-interest loans from the Bank of North Dakota reserved for public schools. That will help the district bankroll its 20% share of the new school set to be built on the base. A student transportation funding bill that cleared the House, HB 1214, includes specific funding for transit to and from career and technical education centers. "I'm happy they're considering it," Baumbach said. "Making sure all kid have access to the Career Impact Academy is a priority." Another bill, HB 1381, would reduce how much state aid is deducted from Grand Forks and other school districts' state payments based on their local revenues, potentially increasing overall spending for schools. Though the government affairs committee was established in part to lobby lawmakers — and has changed its regular meeting date and time three times to accommodate them — Grand Forks legislators have been largely absent from committee meetings since the session began. Only one lawmaker, Rep. Mark Sanford, called into a Feb. 20 committee meeting, for 11 minutes. Baumbach and committee and School Board member Josh Anderson separately defended lawmakers' absenteeism, pointing to state legislators' busy and often hectic schedules. Anderson further said lawmakers remain accessible to the committee via email and other forms of communication. According to his weekly schedule, Brenner met with lawmakers as part of a weekend meeting of Team Grand Forks earlier this month. He did not respond to a Herald query asking if he could share details from that meeting. Though the House and Senate must sign off on the same version of a bill before it becomes law, bills that have advanced from one chamber to the next are not necessarily final. If lawmakers vote to amend a bill received from another chamber, House and Senate members must meet to work out a compromise bill that can then be voted on. Asked for his feelings at this point in the session, Anderson deferred judgment. "I don't know if I can directly say how we feel right now at this point, because we're really just past crossover (in the Legislature)," he said. "There's a lot of things that could still happen and come out of this." Aimee Copas, executive director of the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders, made a similar observation to the Herald on Monday. This session got "mixed reviews" for public school support, she said, but most of the K-12 bills in the Legislature had not yet been signed into law. "Much of the priorities really come down to the final days and how the big K-12 funding bills shake out and how the final policy bills pass or die," she wrote in an email to the Herald.
