“It’s deeply disappointing to see that Bismarck thinks they know better than local school districts and the communities they serve,” Nathan Berseth said.
Berseth is president of the board for the Richland 44 School District serving northern Richland County, North Dakota. Richland 44 currently has approximately 275 students in its elementary and junior-senior high school. Dr. Britney Gandhi, the district superintendent, is also its high school principal.
House Bill 1251 is scheduled to have a Wednesday, Jan. 25 hearing before the House Education Committee. In its current form, the bill would require that superintendents must serve at least 475 students. Wahpeton Public Schools District, which has four schools in the city, has a current population of approximately 1,180 enrolled students.
Also under House Bill 1251, the total compensation a school district provides its superintendent would not be allowed to exceed 1.5% of the total state and local general fund received by the school district.
“The amount of total compensation includes compensation the superintendent receives for other duties performed within the school district,” House Bill 1251 states.
Additionally, beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, low enrollment school districts would have to partner with one or more similar districts and jointly employ a school superintendent. In the event that affected districts haven’t picked partners by Jan. 1, 2024, the North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction would choose the partners. How much money the superintendent receives under the new arrangement would still not be allowed to exceed 1.5% of the total general fund revenue received by all schools in the partnership.
“I do not believe it’s best for the kids in our state,” Gandhi said. “It seems to be a quick and easy fix for some extra dollars without really looking at what the impact would be for thousands of kids in class B schools. They’re saying it’s going to be a cost savings, but they’re not taking into account at all the additional costs that will have to be added.”
House Bill 1251 was introduced by state Rep. Matt Ruby, R-District 40. Its co-sponsors include North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Sen. David Hogue, R-District 38, House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Lefor, R-District 37, House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Pat Heinert, R-District 32, and Committee Vice Chairman Rep. Cindy Schreiber-Beck, R-District 25.
“Students are at the forefront of all discussions around education,” Schreiber-Beck said. “As a former educator, I recognize the importance of excellent teachers, staff, administrators and school boards. After meeting with Rep. Ruby and reviewing the data, it was important for the discussion about sharing superintendents to occur, knowing fully well it would be extremely controversial.”
Schreiber-Beck’s teaching experience included a Minnesota school that shared a superintendent with an adjoining district, she said. In North Dakota itself, there are districts with fewer than 100 students and a high administrative expense. That information can be found at nodakschools.com, she said. Additionally, other districts with low enrollment operate without official superintendents, using county superintendents.
“With the state providing up to 80% of the funds, there is a concern even though local control is respected,” Schreiber-Beck said. “This is not a new discussion. Last session there was an effort, through legislation, to incentivize districts to share superintendents but there was not a response.”
Gandhi said she anticipated incentivizing would be brought up by House Bill 1251 supporters. She said it is a misconception to associate House Bill 1251 with the bill from 2021 for reasons including the lack of clear communication to potentially interested districts and that under that bill, incentives would come from the sharing of superintendents and business managers.
“Our district, in 2019, already looked at cost savings,” Gandhi said. “We went from having three full-time administrators to two full-time administrators. If this bill passes, we would have to hire a full-time high school principal, which is going to save us nothing. We would also no longer have a superintendent with a sole focus on Richland 44.”
Earlier this month, Richland 44 passed a resolution adamantly opposing House Bill 1251. Berseth explained the opposition.
“We have three things to do as a school board: set the budget, set the policy and set a superintendent in place. They’re trying to take two of those three from us,” he said.
A larger discussion about education in North Dakota has begun, Schreiber-Beck said. It concerns the requirement for all public school districts to be on a K-12 funding formula within the next five years. This is possible because of legislation that was previously put in place.
“Until the House Education Committee has the hearing on HB1251, the proposed legislation is just that – proposed legislation that has prompted a needed discussion,” Schreiber-Beck said.
