GFPS Regular School Board Meeting (April 27th, 2026)

001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> We'll call to order the regular meeting of the school board for Monday, April 27th, 2026. First item on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. I invite you to stand as you're able. 1A, the reading of our school board meeting norms, Mr. Larson. Number one, be prepared. Number two, be on time. Three, value and respect each other. Four, exercise thoughtful deliberation and conversation. Five, be professional at the board table and when visiting with the general public. Six, speak up when the norms are not being followed. And seven, advocate on behalf of students and keep the community in mind. Thank you. Item two, the approval of tonight's agenda. I would seek a motion to approve the agenda as outlined in your board packet. So moved. It's been moved by Mr. Clevin. Is

002there a second? Second by Mr. Manley. Any additions, corrections? We'll take a roll call vote. Manley? Yes. Anderson? Yes. Hodak? >> Yes. Clevin? Yes. Larson? >> Yes. Pamasano? Yes. Flynn? Yes. Lunn? Yes. Burger? Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. Item three, celebrating success. We have classified and certified employees of the third quarter. Uh start briefly, Dr. Brenner, and then I believe Mr. King is here. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Our first one is the classified employee of the quarter, uh Spencer Anderson, who works in the technology department. He's not able to be here tonight, but Darren King has a few words to say on Spencer's behalf and will accept his award on his behalf. Thank you, Darren. Uh thank you, Dr. Brenner, President Burger, members of the board. Um Like Dr. Brenner

003said, Spencer just couldn't be here tonight, which is unfortunate cuz if there's a guy that needs a little bit of a face time and and you know, credit for what he does, it's it's Spencer. Spencer is is one of those really really smart guys. In 35 years I've worked with lots of really smart people and he is definitely one of a really elite group of technical minds that can really dig in and figure things out. On top of that, I think the things that I I value when I look at it as part of an organization, he's willing to help and share and collaborate. He's willing to mentor. He He just has all those other skills that make him just a super valuable person in our in our district. Uh just to give you an

004idea, I mean, these two buildings we've opened up, he was involved on that in the home the home stretch of each of those buildings. Everything from fire panels, telephones, wireless network, wired networks. He He was a key pivotal player in that. So, uh well deserved and thanks on behalf of him. Thanks for the recognition. It's a little weird doing this. I'm not sure exactly how to do it, but >> [applause] >> Thank you very very Uh next we have the certified employee of the third quarter. This will be Dr. Brenner and Mr. Thorvilson and we'll go from there. And Tracy Nelson, special education teacher at Lake Agassiz Elementary School, who is also retiring this year, uh, is our certified person of the quarter. And Mr. Travis Thorvilson, principal at Lake Agassiz, has a few words

005to recognize Tracy. Well, Dr. Brenner, President Burger, and members of the Grand Forks School Board, on behalf of our school, along with Mr. Ryan Voss and Amelia Hodgson, it is really an honor to present to you the certified employee of the quarter, Lake Agassiz special education teacher, Mrs. Tracy Nelson. Well, I I really I really do speak for all of us when I say how happy we are for this selection and how proud of you we are. I just have a few, uh, prepared remarks so I don't get too off track. Tracy's service to our profession, uh, is second to none. It has been fueled and inspired by this passion and this just absolutely never-ending belief in every single kid. I, uh, quite frankly, have been struck by just her persistence and her perseverance and

006her no-quit mindset. She truly believes in every single kid and lives about that calling day in and day out. She makes all students feel supported, helps them find all different types of success, and just continually builds up their confidence and their belief in themselves. She is an absolute master at just pushing all the right buttons, knowing exactly what these children need, both academically, socially, or emotionally. Tracy is just a difference maker, especially her impact on our school's culture, how that place works. Uh the manner in which she leads, collaborates, works with the people around her, just sets a tone. And her influence really changes uh the people around her. She has so many just un- immeasurable intangibles. Her work ethic, second to none. Her ability to work with everyone is just unmatched. Just a magnetic

007uh presence that motivates everybody around you to just work as hard as you do. I want to just share a couple things that people said during their their nomination. Um one of them was just how relentless relentless she is with her guidance and her encouragement to all children. Um and how much her children grow year in and year out because she demands that they work towards independence. There's one longer story, I'll do the brief one, but it talked about uh a student that was in a classroom next door to Tracy's classroom. And this was not a student um on her caseload. It was just a kid that knew Tracy in the hallway. And when this child would have a difficult day or would need a little pep talk, he would ask to go see Mrs.

008Nelson. And sometimes if she wasn't there or wasn't readily available, the staff around this young child would say, "Well, we'll tell Mrs. Nelson that you say hi." And that was just enough to get him to turn his day around. And this was not a child on her caseload. Just a general ed kid that got to know somebody that he trusted and cared about. Michelle Shockey shared a story in our presentation at our school that I think also just speaks volumes about about Tracy. Michelle said one of the things she learned from Tracy was how to have difficult but important and meaningful conversations. She said she'd never shy away from going face-to-face somewhere with somebody to talk about those important things even if there was a disagreement. She said she you always knew you'd come out

009on the other end of that conversation feeling loved and respected by Tracy. And isn't that what the world needs more than anything right now? And then of course every single nomination had something about how kind she was and how much she cared. So, I'll close with this. Just that legacy that you are going to leave behind will last an absolute lifetime. Thank you for representing our profession with such honor and such dignity. Uh you've done it well throughout your entire career. And man, it has been an honor to work alongside of you. Congratulations. >> [applause] [applause] >> Well, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to say anything, but I think I have to since my family's also here to to cheer us up cheer me on. I have had a great

010go with Grand Forks Public Schools starting out as a para which I think really helped helped me the most in seeing how other people feel and being able to work with paras and and other people. So that was for 3 years and then I see Sherry Hodak over there smiling. I was at Thompson for I did my resident teacher program there and then got hired on through the Grand Forks Public Schools in Thompson and I was there I think a total of 12 years. And then I moved to Lake Agassiz and in and that's where I've been since. I have met so many wonderful wonderful people, the administration, different people that I've worked with throughout all of those and I just can't say enough about what everybody does for kids and I just I'm honored,

011definitely honored to accept this award. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Dr. Hodak. Tracy, congratulations. I can't believe what it's I mean date myself, not you, 25 some years, but I will tell you everything that Mr. Thorsteinson said about her is absolutely true. She was young and she was excited and energetic. She could confront parents, she could confront teachers and support support. She developed solutions. She was very tough and so it was Grand Forks best when they brought her in and Thompson's loss, but Tracy, congratulations. You've done one hell of a job. Thank you, Dr. Hodak. We'll move on to item four, our public comment period. I don't have any public comment forms turned in. Is there anyone here at the meeting tonight who wishes to participate in the public comment portion of the

012meeting? Seeing and recognizing none, we'll move on to item five. Uh items under five are for discussion. We have one this evening, 5A, the bid process for sale of building trades 2025-2026 project house. Mr. Bombach, and then I believe Mr. Ripley might participate as well. Yes, thank you. Um board member Burger, board members, um the process has changed just slightly as the new construction trades house is being constructed just outside of the Career Impact Academy. You may have taken notice. So, we needed to approach just what this program will look like. And so, here I will welcome up the talented Mr. Ripley to kind of take us through what those changes are. Here I come. Uh good evening, President Burger, members of the board. Um yeah, as Brandon articulated and also in the cover memo,

013explain a little bit of the the historical part of our building trades program. And I think looking back through the records, what might not be as well known is we've been constructing houses in Grand Forks for a very, very long time. Uh and and well before my tenure within Grand Forks Public Schools, it actually was very common for us for building them Gary Purper at that time, the instructor in the particular lot at Red River High School. But for the last 24 years, we've been building them out in the community. We've been buying a residential lot, building the house on site, selling the the lot and the house upon completion, and moving on to the next residential lot. With the construction of the Career Impact Academy and the relocation of our building trades classroom to

014that location specifically for upper class students, it made sense for us to bring the project back to be been on site. And for a variety of reasons I've outlined in the memo, uh proximity to the school building, um access for resources materials cuz it's adjacent to the building trades lab. Um but a big part of it also is visibility. That's visibility for those that are traveling Gateway or 42nd. Um a lot of times you would get questions about you're still doing that project because if you didn't live in the residential neighborhood, you really had no reason to know that that wasn't being constructed by just, you know, a regular developer in town but built by students. Uh and the last one was accessibility. Uh when you're building out in a residential area, it is on

015the students themselves to get to uh that location, and that at times was a barrier for student accessibility. And so, again, being that project is located at the Career Impact Academy, having that um where transportation is being provided, uh whether students are driving themselves or being bussed in, um provides that uh important program capstone to everybody. So, for a variety of reasons, we brought that back. But, I think it does also then change the way that we want to sell that house uh because we don't have a lot attached to it. does have to be moved. Um and so, there's some other parameters in place. And then working with our other uh CTE directors around the state, a sealed bid process seems to be the right uh way to go uh in terms of uh

016the process that we want to utilize. And a timeline that's articulated for you within that memo, um having a a period of time where prospective buyers could reach out and and do a walk-through through the house. Um and then also an end date of when that house needs to be moved because we obviously want to start next year's house uh with the uh the start of next school year. So, with that, I you know, the memo does a nice job of kind of outlining the process, but certainly ready to stand for any questions that the board may have regarding it. Questions from board members for Mr. Ripley or Mr. Bombach regarding this bid process. Mr. Clevin. Thank you. Uh you mentioned a minimum bid. Yes, sir. How do you derive that, and will that be

017publicized in the advertisement? So, President Burger, board member Clevin, um certainly want to make sure that we're not upside down on on the process of the sale of the house. In the past, when we use a realtor, we'd actually we'd do a fair market analysis of comparable size and and build of house and location in town. That's how we established the the rate of the house. In this case, I think the minimum bid has to be at least the level of the materials that have been put into the construction of the house itself. And again, I think that needs to be up front and and publicized as part of the the bid process. I'll let maybe Mr. Bombach speak to to that inclusion as well. Sure. Thank you, Board Members. It's exactly that. It's expense

018driven to the first time going through it. Want to make sure as Mr. Ripley said that we're not upside down on it and it's a process we can replicate going forward. Haven't pulled the numbers yet to do that analysis and not until the project's complete, but then we'll do that. Thank you. Any others? Ms. Flynn? Is this considered a personal property sale? So, like not a traditional financing for a house essentially, right? Cuz it's not a fixed to anything. So, it's personal property? Yeah, um Board Member Flynn, that makes sense to me the way you're describing it. I haven't uh um I I haven't pulled that definition in my head yet, but I think you're exactly right. So, with that being said, would there be a contract [clears throat] that our attorney would draft in

019terms of after we get the sale the how the exchange happens of personal property or who would be responsible for transferring that? Cuz there's no deed for this house. It's just a >> Correct. Yep, that'd be exactly the route we would go. And again, here for discussion, so assuming that there's agreement in this direction, we're having a meeting set up with Laura on that subject. Okay. Mhm. Thank you. Do you have more, Ms. Flynn, before we Okay. Other Board Members? I I just one just clarifying question because it's the first time we've we've had this situation in front of us. What's the contingency if there isn't a bid, there isn't a bid that meets the minimum the next course offering in the fall, is there enough I've not been out there to see what what

020would or could that do as an impact to the courses we offer for the following program year? Yeah, it's a very question. I think the same question would come up with our previous processes building houses on site. What happens if we don't find a prospective buyer and we hang on to those houses. I I have indicated before we're not in the not in the business of just building houses and sitting on them. So I think obviously there would need to be a shift. We're just not going to be able to build houses and just have them, you know, sit unoccupied. And at the same time I can tell you that we've had a number of individuals that have reached out, expressed interest to it. Again, I think the important part would be is to make

021sure that we're covering our costs and making sure that that house gets sold, but I have high confidence that that'll happen. It's a high quality product the students have put together. I had no doubt. I just asked the question anyway. Thank you, Mr. Ripley. Others, Mr. Clevin? Probably is self-evident, but costs would include any legal time to write up contracts and things of that nature. So just an advisement note for those people who set that minimum price. Thanks. Just for the record because some people are watching online, there were head nods in the response to that. We didn't hear Mr. Bombach or Mr. Ripley say yes to your question, but yes was the the implied answer. Thank you, Mr. Clevin. Others? Just a reminder, this is an item for discussion this evening. Of course, we'll

022see and learn more at other parts of the process, but for this evening, anything else from board members? Any final thoughts from you, Mr. Ripley and Mr. Bombach on this agenda item? No, I appreciate the opportunity to have discussion. Certainly if any of the board members would would love to walk through. Come out to the Career Pathways Academy sometime and it's fun to see the students in work and put a part applying their skills to put again in this this house construction project. So, but thank you for the opportunity to be on the agenda tonight. Thank you very much, Mr. Bombach. Anything else from you on this? Yep. As you're moving, Mr. Ripley, I was just thinking how how neat and interesting it would be to have students as a part of the the walk

023through. I don't Again, we've moved on, but we haven't. You're still at the at the podium, but that's really the point, right? Is is to have them demonstrate their work and their learning. If you want to speak to that just briefly. >> No, it's it's one of the when we've done the residential house in the past, one of the times the students get the most proud of is bringing their parents in and showcasing that. And so, again, not to often do you get to say at some point, of course, in this situation will differ not knowing where this perspective house might end up landing, but to be able to drive by something you know, years on and saying I had a hand in constructing that house. And there are neighborhoods in this Grand Forks community

024where a number of houses on individual blocks have been built by the Grand Forks Public Schools. And so, anyway, it's a great point. We are anticipating according to the timeline to do it, you know, once the square is done because it allows us to understand what are the entire costs that are in there, how complete is everything within the house. And at the end of the day, it still is an instructional classroom. And so, the interruptions of doing walk-throughs lend themselves well when there's not students there. But I get your point. And again, students take great pride in in what they put together. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Move on to six. These are recommendations for action. 6A is our consent agenda. I would seek a motion to approve the consent agenda as outlined

025in your packet. It's been moved by Mr. Manley and a second by Ms. Flynn. We'll take a roll call vote. Flynn Yes. Pomasina Yes. Flynn Yes. Anderson Yes. Cleven Yes. Manley Yes. Larson Yes. Hodak Yes. Burger Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. 6B consideration of acceptance of equipment donation. Mr. Bombach and then perhaps others, we'll see. Yeah, thank you. Um Chair Burger, members of the board, I'll just do the quick um technical introduction of this cuz there's a little bit more celebration to be involved here, but there's a donation in um being made to the school district by Impressions Gifts and Creative Services. I'm incredibly generous and so generous that when it meets certain thresholds, there's different approvals that needed to be taken place according to our board policy HDDBR and says

026that uh you know, for any gift to be given to a school building, the principal needs to weigh in on that and we have the principal's approval and acceptance of this. Anything more than a $5,000 in value, then it would need uh my recommendation for approval and I you have that. And the last one is board um board acceptance of the donation should it be greater than $10,000 in value. So, to take you through that celebration piece, again, I'll welcome up um Mr. Ripley. Uh President Burger and members of the board of I'm very, very excited to be back at the podium tonight. Uh we got uh uh contacted by an industry partner uh in our Grand Forks community, Impressions Gifts and Creative Services, uh about uh some equipment that they thought might be useful

027uh and valuable to our graphic design program. Um and I I said, "Well, let me get a better description of what you're talking about here." and uh they sent uh photos and and they sent the package and and I was honestly blown away um with what they were considering. And so I'd reached out to our graphic design instructor, current instructor Dr. Cynthia Baum, and I just asked about that and it got a very similar response. And was just elated with the concept of being able to bring in such high-level resources into the classroom. And so tonight we have Chris and Sam Mackety with Creative Impressions Gifts and Creative Services and speak maybe a little bit to their interest in wanting to donate the equipment. Um but at the very end of the day I just

028would like to say I appreciate partners that are willing to invest in our programs, invest in our students. And so Chris I appreciate being here. Any comments that you want to provide? I good evening. Thanks for accepting the donation. My wife and I and my brother who also helps with the business just thought this would be a great opportunity to give back. I'm a product of Grand Forks Public Schools. Went to Central High School. Loved every moment of it. I felt my my art classes, my design classes, my AutoCAD classes all of those arts it's really where students I think get to to have the most growth. They get to explore the most. Um >> [clears throat] >> as as opposed to your core classes where you're learning given facts back that you've learned. But

029they really get to explore. They really inspire you to what you want to do when you grow up. And art was something I always knew I wanted to do. I was finally fortunate enough to start my own business in that field. I've worked a lot with the public schools. And I'm very grateful that they choose to do business with me. The various high schools, middle schools, elementary schools. And I'm a firm believer of keeping it local. And that's not only something I ask of my patrons to keeping it local, but something I ask of myself as well, making sure that whatever I can do locally I feel is the best impact that that we can make making our community stronger. If that means you have the means of writing a big check, you know, so

030be it. We are in the situation where we had some wonderful equipment that was fairly new that we no longer had a use for and so we thought well, what better what better way to give back and we're very blessed and proud to have that opportunity to do that. So thanks again for all the work that you've been sending my way and I'll continue to do what I can to support the school and the future despite AI. I believe there always will need to be a human brain behind design and artwork and I can prove that cuz my customer send me some pretty pretty rough AI driven artwork that I fix. So there's always going to need that that human touch and I'm just hoping that I can inspire at least a few students out

031there that really gravitate towards the same industry I'm in the way I was inspired and then thank you for it was very easy working with Mr. Ripley on this. Getting the process started and yeah, I just I appreciate and I do appreciate everything this board does and the the school district does for our youth and I hope we have a continued partnership. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you very much. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Sam, any anything? All right, I guess Chris said it at So anyway, with that um you know, certainly stand for any questions and um again, appreciate uh appreciate investments in our schools and their programs and our students. Appreciate it. Thank you for those remarks and for this opportunity. Questions from board members, Dr. Hodak. First of all, thank you very

032much for that. Um have you discussed with um Eric the um upkeep and the maintenance of this or what it's going to increase in our demand for supplies or things like that, as well as if you could answer for sure which course and um what what are the plans for it? Thank you. Yeah, uh board uh member Hodak, Dr. Hodak, I certainly can speak towards uh some of that. That was what was appealing for us was the fact that first of all, it's a uh it's a six-head screen printing um a machine which when Chris was uh in the classroom underneath the instruction of Mr. Joe Ford, um they used probably a a much antiquated uh system of of that same exact model. Um but it is something that was currently being utilized. This is

033just a much better resource than what uh the students are are able to currently utilize. But he also talked a little bit about the fact that since it's local, his willingness uh and again, maybe shouldn't speak for him, but to come and help train and serve as a resource and be part of the program advisory uh and specifically this would be a graphic uh design program, graphic design one and two at Central High School, which is where the local screen printing program is. But Chris, you want to talk a little bit about the supplies and upkeep of this type of equipment and partnership beyond just tonight's donation. Um yeah, so I uh first of all, I guess I'm not even sure if all of you know what exactly Ink Compass is, but it is the

034six-head uh printing machine, but it also comes with um absolutely everything that you're going to need to make a custom screen-printed shirt um from the the flash heater, the the wash-out bay, the screens, the films, the printer, um everything required um ongoing maintenance. There's really not a whole lot of maintenance um as aside from keeping it clean, keeping it um organized. Your inks are going to be your biggest uh your biggest biggest expense that you'd have to rotate through, which is obvious of of any um equipment you're going to have those kinds of um those kinds of uh additional um costs. I don't really see them needing anything, especially right off the bat, um machine-wise anyways to get started. Um and my my brother and I are also very willing and happy to help. Um

035I assume they're going to need help setting it up, uh walking through everything at least a few times to get um get a feel for it. Um And that's something we're certainly willing and um very much looking forward to doing um is uh helping out with any kind of education, uh any ongoing questions they might have. It's not so much a uh here's, you know, a here's a a big machine and you take it and we're done we did a we did our our part. Um it really is something I would love to still be a part of um and help out with. So, anything that uh acquiring that stuff, uh finding vendors, anything like that, we can certainly work with you and uh we'll do our best to make sure that you're you're set

036up for a success, but it is it is quite the the setup. It it um as like you said, from the Mr. Ford days, it is uh it's not hand-built and it is uh but it's uh it's a great machine, so I hope that And do you have the space? We do. We Um Dr. Wodack, uh we did we have to move a couple pieces of antiquated equipment that were not being utilized to make the space, but uh we have made the space, yes. Other questions from board members? Dr. Lun and then Ms. Flynn. I was just going to share um I had the opportunity to travel with Mr. Ripley to some of the career back to academy um or around the US to just kind of get a feel of their programs and um

037a [clears throat] wide variety of them had examples of uh interdisciplinary collaboration. For example, um students in the diesel mechanic program had uh worked with the business students to have uh oil changes for staff and faculty, things like that. Um and so >> [snorts] >> the fact that you're donating a piece of equipment for uh the potential for students to start a business and take business away from you um also I think means a lot um to our uh organization and um the fact that it can just enhance a potential learning experience and then grow out of it. I was a DECA kid, so certainly understand how projects like this can be real life um experience, but also tend to a project-based um presentation of that sort, so um thank you again. Um also shout

038out to Central. Um but uh uh certainly just want to echo everyone's comments of just appreciation for the gift, so thank you. Thank you, Ms. Flynn. Dr. Lun. Having a graphic designer in the family who fell in love with graphic design when she was in high school at not at your school, but at a different school in Grand Forks Public Schools. I won't say the other one, but >> [laughter] >> but anyway, she's going gone on to have a very successful career. But that's where she learned her love was in in the high school. So thank you for for all of us. And I would make a motion that we approve the donation as as outlined. So there is a motion uh on the floor to accept the donation of a full six-head screen printing

039setup to the graphic design program at Grand Forks Central High School. Is there a second? Second by Mr. Kleven. Is there any further discussion? I'll take a roll call vote. Hodak? Yes. Kleven? Yes. Manley? Yes. Larson? Yes. Flynn? Yes. Lunn? Yes. Anderson? Yes. Palmisano? Yes. Burger? Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> 6C, our finance committee report. We'll start with Mr. Palmisano. Thank you. I wasn't I was ready for the second part. I think the first part of this we're going to have an update on the uh athletic scoreboards that the athletic activities director has been working on. And I believe Brandon Mike is here to give a update on it. This is I don't think there's any action. This mainly for discussion. So, if we

040would just have Mike come to the podium or you going to handle it? Yep. I I'd be happy to answer this one, Chair Burger, uh member Palmisano. Just to give a quick presentation what was discussed. Absolutely, Director Biermayer is here present should there be any other questions. We [clears throat] largely um wanted to give an update on what had been envisioned for a project for for video boards in both gymnasia at uh Red River and Central and then just a scoreboard uh component at Cushman Field. There's a number of different ways to approach these and really what we wanted to articulate to the finance committee and and uh Director Biermayer did just that was the approach to bid this um to make sure that everybody um locally, regionally, nationally are aware of the projects and

041that it's an opportunity for everybody to respond. Um one thing that we wanted to be uh front about, too, is this is a sponsor-driven project. This is not in the general fund. This project would only get done should the dollars be raised basically due to the sale of the the marketing opportunities on the boards themselves. And so, for that reason, we're treating this as three separate projects. They're in distinct locations, and they have a sponsorship tied to it. So, so theoretically, if the money's not raised, only a portion of the three the scope of the three different boards could be completed, and there'd be more to be discussed at that point, too. The plan absolutely is to raise the dollars and move forward with all three sites, but that's the reason why it's broken up

042into three separate bids. So, the conversation was largely about that process, and Director Biermeier has begun that process. And ultimately, of course, any bid results would come back to this body for final approval. And so, happy to answer any questions myself on that, or Director Biermeier's here, as well. Now, let's go first to other Finance Committee members. Mr. Anderson, were you at that meeting? Ms. Flynn, anything from you as as a part of that conversation that you wish to share for the good of the whole? Mr. Palmisano, anything else that you want to offer on this? Mr. Biermeier, do you have anything? We're good? Okay. So, this is just in the interest of clarity. Yes, this is under recommendations for action, but this portion of the Finance Committee report is for discussion only. So, this

043is for discussion and information. Any clarifying questions, Mr. Clevin? Thank you. Um the scoreboard requires the scoreboard >> [clears throat] >> power, data, various other other sundry activities need to make it operable. How is the general structure of a bid being presented so that the gift giving is a defined amount? I'm just just on sake of clarity there, board member Clevin, just the end of that question, just could you say that one more time? >> Well, I'll I'll rephrase it. I'm kind of trying to draw analogies to a regular old project bid on behalf of the Grand Forks Public School District. There's plans, specifications, this, that, or the other. So, people know what the end goal should be. So, they can provide a uh you know, an accurate price to to do the end goal.

044Is there a similar delivery of plans and specs for this? Yeah, I can answer that and I might have to call um Director Biermier up cuz he helped kind of put the specifications document together. We'll advertise um specifications, but it's um it's request for Yeah, make sure I get my right terminology here. Call for bids. We we are largely pointing out um through what we can, just the board's location where they're currently at and what our desires are and we're looking for proposals back on those um uh projects. It's not going to be probably to the degree of of what you would put out as an engineer and call for. But, we're putting out the case for the need and hoping to get exactly that information back. With a little more detail than what I'm

045giving it credit for. Mr. Biermier, anything to add to board member Clevin's question? Uh yes, Mr. Clevin. So, when we put this out there, the general concept is I have a I have a pretty good idea of the size of the scoreboards that we want, what the video boards would look like. So, we put those specs into that that RFP, but from there, I want to hear what the companies also have to bring with their ideas of you know, the different bells and whistles that could be involved in it. But there's also an educational component to this, the curriculum piece. I think that's a big part of that where I'm asking those companies, what does your curriculum look like? So, it isn't just the scoreboards that we see generally that we've seen for 30 years,

046and it isn't just the video boards that we are now starting to see in different places. So, I I left it open for their interpretation also, cuz I'm really interested in in what they have to bring forward instead of pigeonholing to what just Mike [clears throat] Biermeyer thinks. And follow up, Mr. Clevin. Uh Dr. Luan Just asking if you had anything to to clarify to either of those. Yep, Dr. Luan. Just a silly question cuz I know you guys will have this covered, but you have three separate bids from an equity standpoint. I don't think we can accept one or two. We would have to accept all three if we're cuz we're dealing with different different schools. >> [snorts] >> I I do see the the Cushman field being very separate. Um and with with

047the different buildings and the different structure, the the three bids I felt was pretty important. I can give you an example of another district in the state that was similar situation with more than one school, and one school had enough money, one was a little bit short. What they did was they didn't come up with more resources, but what they did is they came up with more of maybe some connections and the district and athletic department um can maybe come up with some more connections to help that school that may not be at the tipping point. Dr. Luan, one more? I mean, the unwritten comment here is is it be very difficult for the board to accept one school and reject another school. That would be very that would that would put us in a

048very difficult position. I don't see a board doing that. Mr. Bambak. If I may comment too, I think I think equity is always a a lens of importance. Again, we're we don't know how all the sponsorship goal will go and and even the response to the bidding process. So, I would say at this point we're hopeful. And and if we come up short of that goal, then we're going to bring it back to you for that decision. Anything else, Mr. Cleven? Yeah. And then I'll come to Ms. Flynn. >> Yeah. And because we're not like committing school district finances here, have we looked at this because it's basically a philanthropy sort of process, if you will, have we vetted uh bidding and procurement law on this? Cuz it it's different than bidding our resources, but

049nonetheless, it could still possibly be construed as a capital project on behalf of the school district. And I I think we should make sure we're clear of any Century Code issues. Mr. Bombach? Yeah, happy to comment on that. We dug into this. Um we want to be deliberate in following the law. Any dollar that does come to the school district and we're the custodian of is is public dollar. And so, um we we are we are in compliance with the North Dakota Century Code. There's a there's a nuance of just when you enter uh the bidding thresholds. We know if we put out for services or or really anything north of $50,000, you're going to be required to follow a set of rules. If a project exceeds a quarter million dollars, then you follow another

050set of rules. And um that's where truly um these projects are distinctive of one another. And we're following a process according to that. Ms. Flynn, did you have something? Yeah, so we talked about um at the finance committee meeting um the willingness of Mr. Burmeier Burmeier to get sponsorships and go out and he secured some. Um and I appreciated his efforts to um really get that full amount before coming back to the board with, you know, a recommendation or buying it. For clarity's sake, um if we get all of the sponsorships at sort of what you're estimated this might cost, but then the bids come back and the project's higher than what do we do? Or then or it will the ask be that we're still moving forward upon your recommendation and the board's just

051going to chip in a little bit more from the general fund or what are your thoughts? Um if if the bids exceed what you've secured for finances, is that something you're even willing to bring back? 100% of this will still come from public funding. I'm sorry, from private funding. Not [laughter] our dollars. So, um if for some reason um my estimation and of the the bidding projects right now based on what some other districts have done with very similar projects in the tri-state area, um we will readjust with our businesses, but I won't come back and say, "Well, I might be $50,000 short. Can the school help me out?" We won't move forward until it's 100% um funded. Other questions from board members? Mr. Palmisano? >> Yeah, the other comment that he mentioned Mike mentioned

052is that we would also include the signs out front of all schools. He is incorporating that within the sponsorship that you could have a dual sponsorship so we can have more than one sponsor on our signs that should have five. So, he's been working on that and I believe you have one already sold and working towards others. That's correct. Like the commercial say, "Bundle and save." So, that's what we're doing. Thank you for that note. Others, I thought I saw one more over here on 6C1. Anything else on the athletic scoreboards update? Reminder, even though this is under six on our agenda, there's no action required on this point of the finance committee report. Looks like that's enough for tonight. Thank you very much. We'll move on to 6C2, consideration of bids for parking lot

053resurfacing at Shrader Middle School and Wilder Elementary School. Mr. Paul Messina. Yes, we did have they have set up bids and if you look on your your information, the last page has a the bid totals that have come we are administrative and committee recommendations, what we would like to move forward with the parking lot bids at Shrader Middle School and at Wilder North End Wilder for 107340 uh 30 for step strata corporation and the night river river uh company has come together. So, that's your low bid of that. We recommend that we would approve that. If you've driven by Shrader Middle School lately, it is starting to look a lot like the Columbia Mall. So, I think it's time that we have to do a a lot of work on that project, so. Thank you.

054Uh others on the finance committee, Ms. Flynn, Mr. Anderson, anything to add? Ms. Flynn. I'll just comment if you it's one thing to drive by Shrader, it's another to drive >> in the Shrader in the fact of every day. Mr. Bambach, anything to add? Uh no, just to highlight that mean we followed our bidding requirements just like articulated with Century Code, if published it for 10 days, um received I I would say happy with the bid results and just the number and the interest. Uh a component of this too is going to um restructure that Shrader parking lot so that the runoff is correctly taken care of and and getting a little more life out of it versus where it's pooled over these recent years and caused so much damage. Thank you. I know we

055can see in our packet the timeline the the lowest responsible bidder that's recommended as a 5-day timeline any sense of when in the summertime or are we too soon for that? Does that happen after the bid is accepted? Do we just have any sense of when it might be completed? Sure. Chair Burger, I would say I don't have it off the top of my head, but the elements we're looking at is there's a a project on the east side of Schrader that we need to be aware of when they lift the cooling unit up on the roof. So we want to avoid that time frame any school activities, etc. I don't recall the exact time frame, but seeing as how the project is only 5 days, we're going to be able to conveniently hit the

056the sweet spot. Any other questions from board members related to 6C2? Mr. Palmquist. >> Just one thing it is coming out of the building fund. So we make sure we know that. >> Thank you for the clarification. Any other questions or comments from board members? Dr. Lund. We have a motion on the floor to recommend or to accept Knife River's bid in the amount of $107,340.30. Is there a second? Second. A second by Mr. Larson. Any further discussion? Just just one point. >> One note, Mr. Bohmbach. Uh to to Bill's comment there that could the action include the approval to be expensed against the building fund? Yes. So there's a question to and I'd need a board member's amendment to the motion since it's on the floor and it's been seconded, but I would invite

057a motion to or or an amendment to the motion to add that these funds are are to be expended from the building fund. Yes, that's I agree with that. So this was >> I move it. I move that we add that it comes from the building fund. Yes, I understand this Dr. Lund was your original motion. Are you amending? Are you Are you moving an amendment? Okay. So, do we need Do we need a second and a vote on the amendment, Cindy? Okay. I'll second the amendment. All right. So, this might have been just me stating the motion in the memo and not what was actually intended, but we do have a second on the amendment from Mr. Clevin. We'll take a roll call vote on that. Pommesino? Yes. Lund? Yes. Larson? Yes. Flynn? Yes.

058Anderson? >> Yes. Hodek? Yes. Manley? >> Yes. Clevin? Yes. Burger? Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. The amendment to the motion passes. So, now with no other discussion, we have a motion and a second amended that we accept this bid in the amount of $107,340.30 and to expense that from our building fund. Is there any further discussion? We'll take a roll call vote. Flynn? Yes. Hodek? Yes. Anderson? >> Yes. Manley? Yes. Lund? Yes. Clevin? Yes. Pommesino? >> Yes. Larson? Yes. Burger? Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. Thank you. Moving on to 6D, General Fund Financial Statement, Mr. Bambenek. Thank you, Chair, members of the board. For the first 9 months, this this report reflects the financials total general fund revenues were um nearing 103 million and the expenditures at 86.7 million,

059netting the results of revenues over expenditures of 15.8 million. First report always compares the actuals against the budget through that same time period through March 31st. You can see the local sources have started to come in here in the spring as tax dollars have come in. And the expenditures continue to to accumulate. So, total revenues were reaching nearing 80% of the budget anticipated and expenditures at 64% of the budget. Um on to a little bit later in that first report, you know, looking at that other expenses, our supply lines and and different discretionary lines we've been working hard on to keep lower than prior years. And at this point in the year, we've passed that significant deadline of April 1st, where we can no longer order from out of town or get purchase orders put

060in from out of town vendors, which helps further control some of those expenses. So, we're on a good path there. For the second report that comparative report is this where where we at at this point in the year compared to the prior year. One thing I'll note just on that first sheet is that local sources are lagging. It shows nearing $300,000 from the year prior. And a big part of that is the the primary resins credit has yet to come in, and we contacted the county and not seeing that. Last year it was reflected in the March statement, and this year it'll be the April statement. They received it on April 15, and so we'll we've gotten or that'll be coming in shortly. So, that's one thing to explain that one. And then on the

061federal sources, just to point out, that's a 10% reduction, but that's also because we we budgeted fewer expenditures within that revenue side or within the federal bucket. So, there's going to be fewer revenue to match the expenditures. So, that's 10% from the year over year, but I looked at it and according to our own budget, last year at this point, we were 42% of those revenues, and this year at this point we're 42% of our projected revenues. So, that's actually a little bit closer than what we'd anticipate just by face value of it. Happy to answer these questions, but as you can see, the the graphical depiction shows us where we're at with our revenues as compared to the prior 2 years. Expenditures just the same, coming together for that general fund balance. You can

062see that last bar chart included. Again, happy to answer those questions, but the administrative recommendation is the routine to approve the general fund financial statement for the period of July 1, 2025 through March 31st, 2026. Questions from Mr. Bambach? Dr. Hudak? Yeah, I just uh talk a little bit about um the federal sources at 42%. I imagine that's what you were referring to. Do you see any issue where we're not going to get all of it? Uh thank you. Um Chair, board member um Hudak, no. And like I said, when I compare it to last year, it's in the exact same spot from what we budget and anticipate and then what we've actually received at that point. There, you know, we have uh a number of federal grants. The federal fiscal year is a little

063bit different than ours, too. And there's just this delay. We spend the money first and we seek the reimbursement. Um so, what is budgeted here is reflective of what the feds had allocated to us, and it's our full anticipation to bring those in. The only thing that can even change that is if we set a budget where we're going to hire, you know, a a position, a para, and we could not find a para, and we don't, then we become eligible to carry those funds over for 1 more year and make the most of them. So, there's uh things like that that could take place. The bigger picture is we're eyeing what future allocations are coming or not coming, and but at this point in the year, we know what we'd received on this fiscal

064year. And the other just to discuss a little bit, but I noticed in our legal services that we had budgeted 165,000, and we've only spent, I think, 53 um thousand at actual cost. Um and then when I look back to um 24, 25, have we got all our bills in for all the legal services that we've done this year? Is this going to be a huge or are we just waiting on those? Yeah, a great question, Board Member Hodak. Unfortunately, I believe there's going to be a great deal of bills coming based on some recent activity of the board. We we had been tracking positively compared to year prior. I was equally excited about that, but um I think that it'll jump right up. Okay, thank you. Any other questions from board members? Seeing none,

065I would seek a motion to approve the general fund financial statement for the period of July 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026. Been moved by Mr. Palmisano. Is there a second? Second. Second by Ms. Flynn. Any other further discussion? I'll take a roll call vote. Anderson? Yes. Flynn? Yes. Klaben? Yes. Hodak? Yes. Palmisano? Yes. Larson? Yes. Lund? Yes. Manley? Yes. Burger? Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. 6E, proposed revised process for TIF and pilot tax incentives. Mr. Bambenek. Thank you, Chair. Members of the board, >> [clears throat] >> as you recall on our board meeting about a month ago, March 23rd, we had talked through a suggested or drafted process. There were some some clerical types of errors within that document, and there were bigger questions. And so, I left that board

066meeting reaching out to our community partners, namely the city of Grand Forks, to to get responses to your questions, and I've included some of these changes in the cover memo. I've I've kind of grouped them into what they what the nature of those questions were. And so, I'll kind of run through those to get everybody up to speed on that process. So, the first of those being what kind of assurances are we provided when it comes to the lead time for the school district to consider. Of course, the legal requirement is when the city takes that action to adopt the tax incentive. There's a very specific 1 month or 4-week window that you need to respond by and if you don't, then you would um you know, agree to the incentive if not explicitly. So,

067the the question was more about this mention of a 2 weeks when they the group comes together. It'd be a roughly 2 weeks or approximately 2 weeks before that action is taken setting forth the 1 month to trail. I asked the question of Todd Feehan at the city and he said, you know, it's exactly that kind of commitment they're providing, but they they're not going to be able to probably nail down exactly 2 week window. That's why he continued to use the word approximately 2 weeks prior to. So, that's what's embodied in this document. Um there was clean up related to the number of meetings. Um I think the original iteration of the concept was was a meeting of combined taxing entities, city, county, and school um to and take place over two separate meetings

068as in they would first hear the project as a group and then come back together for a second meeting to approve the project or consider the project approval um a second meeting doing that together. Uh that's been clarified. I heard from you as board members to say we we'd request or be most comfortable with hearing the project scope as a group, but then we will do our own work to consider what to do with that application at a school board meeting. And so, that's what's embodied here. Clarified just the one meeting as a conjoined meeting. Um broader timeline and suggested process that actually relates closely to that lead time question. It the 4 weeks on top of the 2 weeks. And then clarity relating to the public comment about 5 minutes per speaker um has

069been worked into that step two describing that conjoint meeting. Those were um the takeaways I I had taken from the meeting and brought back. And so you see this draft is working to incorporate those. And so um up to you for your consideration on this document. There's administrative recommendation to approve um this approach based on what uh conversation we had on March 23rd or what I thought I heard. I'm happy to stand for any questions. Questions, comments from board members? Dr. Hodak. I have um several on this. First of all, um overall, what is this document? Is it a document that um Dr. Brenner or Brandon will be signing? Is it um a memo of understanding? Is it a a ten um foreign agreement and such? Um because I think the question that has come

070to me would be that um this is really the city's uh process. And the city, what they would be doing, um and that we're just saying, "Yeah, that's good. We'll abide by or try to follow." But I'm am concerned that um if this could be something that is written that could legally become binding to us, I think that I would be recommending that um we include a disclaimer explicitly stating that the document does not create any legally um enforceable rights or obligations based on the school district's part. Um Mr. Bombach. Thank you, Chair Burger, member Hodak. Um I do not see this as legally binding and um certainly a a comment or uh sentence to that effect would be appropriate. Um the way I've seen this is is really quite informal. It's more of an

071agreement to a process, your process, and what you'd like to participate in this joint meeting would be like any other school board meeting. It would require proper notice. So, whether you decided to participate in the joint meeting to receive the um the uh presentation of the application in uh among your peers, or you said no, you got to come to our meeting. Functionally, it's the same meeting. In my mind, this is a meeting of the school board adjacent to those other public bodies operating their business. And so, this is an informal agreement of saying, you know, we would agree to receive that scope of work that way and not legally binding. So, I too additionally comforted by such a sentence. Go ahead, Dr. Hudak. So, that would be one um that I think that we

072should put in. Um either that or have That's why I was asking about our legal services. I was thinking, well, now it's time to put this in with our legal services to make sure that there isn't something the wording, because it's the wording that can make it um binding as well. I found it interesting that they went to that fee of $10,000 and from that 2,500. And so, I wanted to know if they were going to invest that $10,000 for a year, and would we receive some funding um back on that as well. I do think that the timelines remain a little bit and ambiguous um to that. On the I'll say the second page, um and I might have missed this in the last time um that I've looked at this and such, but

073um the first uh three pages or the first three paragraphs, they talk about combined work session. And then on that third paragraph, all of a sudden it says during the combined work sessions. So, I was wondering if there's something there that I have missed. I have also wanting to look at on step three that it says if the city does not receive a response from the county or the school board within 30 days of the delivery of the time of the notice from the city the non-responding governmental entity must be treated as participating in the pilot. So, that's another reason why I'm asking about legally binding or not because I'm not certain that I saw that the last time or that I'm in agreement with that. So, those are my concerns. Mr. Babcock? Yeah, Chair

074Burger, um Board Member Hodak, um agreed just to respond to those. I I believe that S at the end of that that would be a clerical error. I think the rest of this document is now intended to describe a single work session that um the school board would be participating in. Again, it's a public school meeting that we need to be properly noticed. As it relates to um legally binding Century Code, that's that's going to be the case regardless of any format than agreement. That four-week window is is what the Century Code says about participating in property tax incentives exceeding five years. And so, when that action's taken by the city to notice, um that's what triggers that 30-day window. And should the school board not address that, then they would by state law currently

075in place um be agreeing to participate in that tax incentive. If that that makes sense. Yeah. Other questions, Dr. Hodak? Okay. Other questions from board members? Dr. Lund? Brandon, we got a comment from from a uh somebody in the public today that and I don't know if you were CC'ed but talked about uh in the second to last paragraph on step two talks about reasonable efforts will be made to consolidate project developer applications. Um and then in the fourth paragraph it talks about 5 minutes per speaker will be permitted during the combined working session and what that what the comment was in the letter was if they're going to have three projects presented that night a speaker shouldn't be stuck with just 5 minutes to talk about potentially three different projects. Uh and and I

076thought the point was made sense to me is that if there's if there's a couple different projects that are totally different projects not related they're they're they're going to limit a speaker to 5 minutes for for however many number of projects there are being presented and it seemed to me that seemed like a reasonable concern by that that public individual and I think that should be brought to the board and probably discussed here now but brought to the to the city council cuz I think if there are if they're going to present two or three or four projects Mhm. and you you limit the public speaker to 5 minutes that's I don't think that's fair. Mr. Bullock? Um thank you for the observation. Um I'm happy to reply. I think it's completely your prerogative exactly

077how you respond to that. I read the language just as as you do. 5 minutes per speaker will be permitted during the combined working session. So if that's something this body is not comfortable with within the draft I mean please make the changes. Dr. Lan, anything else from you? No, I just brought it up. I I assumed that people read the letter maybe they didn't get the chance to. Ms. Flynn? Um I have a couple comments but first um Dr. Hodak asked a question of um sort of like who owns this like how was it created? It's my understanding that there was representatives from the city, the county, and the school board who had a prior conversation with each other to sort of talk about this process and so I think that piece maybe is

078just missing for awareness for this board. Yeah, I'm happy to respond first in full disclosure. I participated in one Zoom call to get a sense of where the entities were coming from. It was informal. We had a conversation about possibility and as with anything else, you know, I left the conversation saying, you know, I aside from the board table, I can't make anything happen or make any promise. It's not good governance. It's not good policy, but I would be interested to see what the city came forward with. It did did seem to be the the mayor and the city's initiative more than any other single taxing entity to bring this to the table. And so where I left that conversation was, you know, we need to have plenty of time at the board table for

079all board members to discuss this. But I certainly was aware that this was you know, in conversation or it was a possibility before we saw it in our board packet. Happy to stand for any other questions about my involvement or a characterization of that conversation, but that's that was my >> No, I appreciate that cuz I think that just gives the board members like it wasn't a official committee appointment. So there wouldn't necessarily be a report that comes back. But it also wasn't just like the city coming and saying, you guys need to approve this document. So I just wanted to highlight that because when I asked talked to the mayor about some things, he had kind of mentioned that and so I just wanted the board to be aware that there's maybe some informal

080conversations. I think um, part of why um, uh, I've been vocal at times about the uh, tax incentive process, but I think um, this is an attempt for the city to try to find a solution based on feedback from the school district and the county. And so I appreciate the notion of like, hey, we're just trying to do the best that we can. It's been my understanding from either party that I've talked to, either the county or the city, that they see this as a guideline to operate together, but that we're not holding our hands. So if we have that first meeting and it becomes just a clown show, let's just say, that we have the opportunity to come back to our board and say, maybe we didn't like that, or maybe we did, and

081provide feedback and change the process. So it's not a policy written in stone, it's not a binding agreement, it's just sort of a initial, here we go, here's here's maybe a way where we can um, uh, find a solution for some of the issues that maybe we were having. One being that there were times where we felt we were rushed. So to Dr. Hodak's point about the timeline, I feel like this timeline is a little bit longer and more broad than what we had before. I feel like before we just got the notice from the city, and maybe it was 30 days, maybe it was a little less, but then by the time we actually had time to schedule a meeting, and then we had the first meeting, and then sometimes it was like we

082only had one meeting to decide, and that was the first time we got the meeting, and if we didn't decide, our answer was yes. And then so it felt like our hands were just tied, in my opinion. Um, so I I actually think this timeline is a little better. Um I saw the uh email that Dr. Lund was referencing as well, and I wondered about that um perspective because um it certainly does limit the discussion at the meetings. I will reference that there will be an individual hearing for each of the taxing entities where individuals can come, and the city itself has said that there's no time limit. So, there could be an option an additional opportunity for someone to come, but I do think it feels rushed if there's multiple projects being presented at

083the same time. Someone might have feedback for 5 minutes on one. I know that creates a lot of time, um but the piece that we have always continued to say is that we want more education and want more facts surrounding each project. And so, I do feel that if we were to combine with the city and the county, that it would be important to allow those speakers not to have a maximum time frame, but to have a 5 minute per each project that they're speaking on. And maybe we take that individually or whatnot, but um we we want and are craving more education on these projects, and so taxpayer comments certainly help um with the education piece. Um I do >> one thought to that before you go on, Ms. Flynn? I I I do

084agree uh with the comments from Ms. Flynn and and Dr. Lund. Perhaps as this takes shape, and again, right now we're just imagining what this first work session looks like, feels like. Uh and so, some of this is to be decided down the road, but uh perhaps there is a mechanism uh in this document that that does extend more of a right for citizen comment for each individual project and at the same time says that's a separate comment card. It's during a separate part of the work session. Right? So, let's say we've got project A and we have six comments on project A and we're asking citizens to say specifically, you know, yes, I want to weigh in on project A. The work session takes all the comments from project A, 5 minutes or less

085per speaker, and then we've got discussion as we've done at various times at this table. Then we have project B and so on because I wouldn't want something so generally worded so as to say there are four projects on the table. That means any citizen can now have 20 minutes and now it's 20 minutes and we have no recourse. Right? But but here we have all of the same guidelines for citizen comment period. It's 5 minutes per speaker per topic, so to say or per project, but then the chair still does have the right to enforce a boundary or to say you're you're getting off topic. That's that's that wasn't we're not there. So, that to me would be a way to meet somewhere in the middle. So, I didn't mean to I know you've

086still got more and then I'll come to Mr. Clevin, but that thought has come to me at various times today. Ms. Flynn? Sure. I The only other comments I had were in that same email that Dr. Lund referenced. It had talked about is the school board willing to take a stance on if this type of a project comes forward, no, we're not seeing it or if this amount of year comes forward, we're not seeing it. I think we talked about that. There's varying opinions on the board as to whether or not to set some guidelines. I think loosely the majority had kind of said we're willing to hear anything, but that doesn't mean that we're a hard and fast no on just like on paper. However, personally, I do think that if a developer if

087we have done this process and a developer does not show up to the meeting for me, that's going to be a pretty easy no. I mean, we we have come together to say we're making this easier for all of you so you don't have to go to three separate meetings and then if you don't show up, you know, whether that's said and done or not, but I'm just stating that for accountability purposes that that would be important to me that that they would show up. Um the last piece I had, I agree with Dr. Hodak. If the city increased their fee from 25 to 10,000, I would publicly like to hear from the city what that fee goes towards, how that money is being used. Um and you know, certainly we can use our legal

088services in any capacity or however we like, but I would appreciate their perspective on these incentives, especially if there's a differing opinion at for the city attorney or the the county attorney. You know, I would appreciate having them at those meetings as well to help us navigate from our side. The last thing I want these meetings to turn into is sort of a bickering session when they're supposed to be a unifying session and an efficiency session. So, I I wonder if there's a work between potentially the attorneys to do prior to these meetings, especially if there's some disagreement on how the projects are going to come to fruition. Thank you, Ms. Flynn. Mr. Clevin. I think the city public comment period is either three or five minutes. I I honestly can't remember, but that'd be

089a question to clarify as we look at putting in writing the time period per speaker per project. If they're three minutes the same as we are, that becomes an easy numerical value to set. Uh I would also like to just reflect on this new version. I think this is very accurate to we have asked the city to do and I think they've done a very good job of incorporating our thoughts and we should respect the fact that this really has been collaborative. And all along our voices have been heard and I I appreciate that. Thank you. Other thoughts from board members? I just have one question for board members, perhaps for Brandon, uh others who who could weigh in. Um we we've said it number of times during this discussion. Um we're we're just seeing

090how this goes. We We this isn't This doesn't go in our policy. What kind of document is it? Um with board policy, we have periodic review. We have systematic uh regular calendar times where committee goes to work and brings a report back to say we want to revisit this or we want this change or we'd like to discuss such and such a policy. Um this is maybe beyond the scope for tonight, but I just invite us all to think about when do we check back in and say, "Is this working? Is it not? What needs to be corrected?" Who does that and how? Um I I don't know quite where to direct this question, but is there, as we've done with a a couple of other uh pretty pretty um intense conversations this this year,

091uh we've we've included a mechanism that says, "And we're going to revisit this at such and such a time or in every even numbered year by by this month." What what could that look like so we don't have a uh you know, a board with a different shape a year from now that just says, "Well, I don't know. This is This is just what we have." Um so, how does that work with something that's not in board policy? I'll just open that question. Dr. Lund? I think we just pick a time frame down the road. I mean, there's you know, we could say, well, we're going to do two of these and we'll know. It's kind of like, well, we could probably watch Wayne Gretzky and and 5 minutes say this guy's going to be

092good and it might take us 5 hours of watching another guy and saying he's going to be good. You know, it it it varies. So, I think we just arbitrarily say maybe after the after this second time we do this or the third time we do this, we should just have a little conversation about it. You know, maybe that fits under board request for future consideration that we want to make sure this is on the agenda for for discussion. Dr. Brenner and then Dr. Hodek. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. We we have an agenda planner for the entire year from July 1 to June 30th. So, we can we can put uh, home mark holders or placeholders throughout the year to to make sure that we hit this conversation. Dr. Hodek? I would I would

093also anticipate that after any of these general work sessions that we'd have, that either as a whole there is a um, an audit or a debriefing so that we would not wait for the second or the third one, that we could correct immediately some of the things that um, happened or shouldn't have happened or that there would be a discussion um, that would take place. I would anticipate that we would all want that. Thank you. Other thoughts? Mr. Clevin? Just I'd also ask us to reflect why this is being revised in the first place. Cuz we asked. And our community partners all agreed, yeah, let's work on this to make it work better for all of us. I think that same sort of working relationship would exist and if it doesn't work for any one

094of the parties, we'll sit down and talk about it again just as we've done in the past. And I I trust that process ongoing cuz our city works well together. Thank you. Other thoughts, comments, questions from board members? Dr. Lund? On a different subject. Not Not on the Not on the feedback thing. Oh, no, no. No. Yes, we're We're still discussing the proposal wise process. Yes, go ahead. >> I think this is for the big bosses over there. And And step two it talks about this meeting will be considered a work session, which is clearly for the city council, but it's also important for us because our rules for work sessions are different than our meeting rules. And And will this be considered Will the Will this combined meeting be considered a a work session

095for us or or a formal meeting? It's probably more important for Cindy than anybody. So, cuz the cuz our rules are a little different. Any response from Dr. Brenner, Mr. Bambenek, or others? It would be a work session. What we What we need to work around is typically we don't have public comments during a work session. So, we'll have to navigate that. Any other thoughts or questions, Mr. Manley? Um In step one it says the city city shall shall contact and consult with the North North Dakota Department of Commerce regarding the pilot incentive request. Just making sure that we'll be able to see a copy of their thoughts on this. Um in prior pilots I don't think we've ever unless it slipped through me, but uh I don't think I've ever seen any thoughts or

096rulings from North Dakota about pilot requests. Any response to that from Mr. Bambenek, Dr. Brenner, or something to check and get back to? I Just want to make sure Mr. Manley gets a response. Dr. Brenner? I think Mr. Manley is accurate in that perspective, so we'll make sure we have that information. Other thoughts or questions from board members? Dr. Wynn? You're asking us to approve this tonight. So, this is under a recommendation for action this evening. So, I'm just wondering how do we how do we modify the document to express our wishes about more public input or or or is that on the side or or whatever is since you since you're asking for approval from this body tonight. Sure, I think Mr. Bombach spoke very well about this that it is the board's prerogative

097to approve the document as written in your packet or approve the document with these changes or to to just like that we had the a previous conversation to say we would like to see some additional changes. There are a number of different ways we could go. We'll go to Ms. Flynn and then Mr. Bombach. Just for clarity's sake, do we know how soon this process would start? Like do we have one kind of in the pipeline or you know, do we Mr. Bombach might know. Yeah, sure. Chair Board Member Flynn, happy to respond in that I think there is an anticipation of projects and the city has been keeping administration aware of when they could be coming, but it is a little bit unclear to me honestly when they'll actually come. It's been talked about

098in the summer the applications could be coming. So, I don't I don't know exactly, but I think when you approve this process administratively we would start to follow this process in conjunction with those entities. So, if done tonight the next time you saw a project would be in this format of a joint session. The reason why I asked that question is when I sought clarification directly with the mayor on something the last time around, his response to me was I want you guys to get it right. Don't rush whatever you feel your process might be. And so, to me that felt like he's comfortable with us getting it right to where we feel comfortable. And so, if we're going to sit here today and like, should we add this? Should we add this? You know,

099perhaps the feedback can just be taken and, you know, certainly I don't want things to be brought back eight times, but um it sounded like that there wasn't a rush to do something like May 1st, that there could be time. So, I personally would feel comfortable with maybe taking some of the changes that we've talked about and just getting even an inch closer to maybe where a majority feels comfortable rather than approving something tonight, but Sure. I'm going to talk to uh turn to Mr. Bombach because it seemed to work very well the last time around for you to take notes and thoughts and in a sense the the broad view of the board's uh collective conversation. Uh you you hit those four highlighted points two related, but but kind of illustrated those in the

100memo. Are you comfortable characterizing this conversation? Do Do you have any questions from board members? Do you have a sense of what what in a sense what the board is looking for uh that that could come back to the board as an action item in May? Yeah, Chair Burger, comfortable with uh the suggested timeline of taking a little more time. I do have a couple of clarifying questions then. What I primarily heard, there's a number of discussion here, but what I primarily heard was a sentence related to not being legally binding, which I'd be happy to take your recommended language, or of course work with our attorney uh to get the right language there. Um but I think you did suggest some. I just didn't take it down quickly enough. Uh there was some conversation

101around setting or suggesting that the speaker limit be per project or not, so I need some clarity if that's something you want to pursue or not. And then the only other main thing I captured is working through the concept of a work session or a meeting and if that would then materialize in any changes in the document. Board members, do you have any comments to that? Has anything been unfairly characterized? Has anything been missed? Do you feel comfortable in a sense with with Brandon working through that Mr. Manley? And just that one sentence about the um getting the documents from North Dakota that we should see. Any others, Mr. Clevin? And I think it was my interpretation it was clear we want a time limit of X number of minutes per speaker per project and

102the speaker can't speak concurrently on all projects at that given work session. Thank you. Others? Ms. Flynn? I just had two clarifications on under step one, the second paragraph. It talks about the $10,000 development payment pays for a third party but for test analysis and for a financial accountability review at the one-year mark. So, stop there. I don't think we've ever seen a one-year mark review. Um I would appreciate a one-year review. Um so, I I would just question if that's the case, who gets that? When do they get that? How do they get that? And then it goes on to say after project completion and then it says potential clawbacks or disqualification from any future tax incentives would be potential remedies per a development agreement. That sentence kind of seems out of place. Like

103it I feel like it's trying to talk about something, but there's either something missing before that or in the middle or afterwards. It just kind of seems wonky. So, maybe seeking clarification on that. Which one? The step one, second paragraph, the last sentence. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you. Others, Dr. Lund? Um I'm thinking that might have come out of the Fargo fiasco where they gave TIF money away and then they turned it over and so I'm thinking I'm thinking that's that's why that sentence is in there, but you're right, it kind of comes out of nowhere. >> [snorts] >> And and I think it's hard I think it's also hard for us to to try and finalize this document. Like even when we talk about the 5 minutes per speaker per thing cuz we've

104got two other taxing entities that we have to work with. So I I really appreciate Amber's thoughts about let's take this back and get it get it done right because we we may be not thinking something that the county's thinking or or that the city's thinking and even the order in in which I think you gave some eloquent speak about how to to do this, but that probably is going to be the city council's job to do at the meeting. That's right. Yeah, and and to be fair and for those listening, um what you hear from board member comments to Mr. Bambenek, you know, check on this, add this in, this line, that line, this is this is not the same as saying and then however Mr. Bambenek puts that together is now the board's

105action. There was just simply not be a motion tonight. We'll see this in our board packet in May. We'll have further conversation and action. So um this feels like a helpful place to be given the conversation that we've had collectively. Mr. Bambenek. Uh would you be willing to consider an action to postpone the item until the next meeting? So I want to make sure we get the action correct so that we it can be on the agenda. Okay. So I would seek a motion to postpone action on the proposed revised process for TIF and pilot tax incentives until our next regularly scheduled board meeting. I'll second. It's been It's been moved by Mr. Kleven and a second by Dr. Hodek. Any discussion on postponing action? We'll take a roll call vote. Kleven. Yes. Larson. Yes.

106Pomasino. >> Yes. Lunn. Yes. Manley. Yes. Flynn. Yes. Hodek. Yes. Anderson. Yes. Burger. >> Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. 6F consideration of resolution for renewal of Community High School lease for July 1, 2026 to June 30th, 2027. Mr. Babcock. Chair Burger, members of the board, we lease [clears throat] the space from the state of North Dakota for where Community High School sits. Um this lease was last negotiated for a 5-year term, but each and every year there needs to be action taken to renew that term or to to enter into another year of that entire 5-year lease. So, we what you have attached to your board agenda is a copy of that that current lease I'm mentioning to commence that second year of term. There needs to be a resolution per

107the requirements within that lease to commence that. So, you have in front of you from our our legal um recommended resolution to commence to make sure we have a spot for Community High School right where they have been for so many years. The lease itself the term um would be then for a renewal of July 1, '26 through June 30 uh '27. It's at the same rate as the current lease rate of $10 per square foot um covering just over 17,000 square feet, primarily office classroom um and some workshop corridor area within the building. Total cost would be 173,700. This past year um we taken action to expense that against the building fund as a require as a permitted use of of paying leases out of the building fund in an effort to continually put

108the general fund resources where we need them most. My [clears throat] action, my recommended action written out here, does not include to be paid from the building fund, but I would like to ask that it be included. It was a mistake of mine not to have written that out. So, if from the start we can read that administrative recommendation to approve the resolution to renew the lease with the State of North Dakota for space used by Community High School in the North Dakota Vision Services School for the Blind building located 500 Stanford Road for the period of July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 and to be paid for from the building fund. Understood. Thank you, Mr. Bombak. Uh questions or clarifying comments from board members? Ms. Flynn. I have to ask given our financial

109situation and um some moves that we've had, especially with the Career Impact Academy, how often is it reviewed? Um I think Community High School is a great space. I'm not suggesting that we move it from there. I think the uh uh School for the Blind has certainly been a great partner to work with, but how often do we review that space in terms of do we continue leasing or do we have space within our district, this building another high school or attachment somewhere um that we could utilize our own building instead of leasing? Um Chair Burger, Board Member Flynn, it's a good question. I would say in just in recent history it hasn't been a systematic review. There has been uh really no space to speak of, let alone the 17,000 square feet. I think

110it's a it's a great request to consider that question. We've just been in an environment where we haven't had that available. If that if that changes, which um we felt a little softening of the requirement for space in the past year, so if that continues to go in that direction, I think we have to ask ourselves that question. Other questions, comments, Ms. Flynn? Maybe just in response to that, I would um push back on could we initiate a process where there is a systematic review of that of all leased spaces as part of our facilities plan in general. More purposeful annually. Thank you. Other questions, Dr. Hudak? I would concur. That's one of the things that I had thought that I would bring up as well. So that how do we know that Mr. Bohan

111is very happy with what the landlord is agreeing to do for us as such? Um so I would concur with that. Also, I have a question about under the landlord's obligations, um they say to um be for B, it's on the second page, um to perform all required maintenances for the premises including all janitorial services, which will be done on a daily basis. So just clarify for me, does the landlord hire the janitors and supervise them? Do we? Um where does this fit in? Do we hire, evaluate, or is that on the landlord? Yeah, fair question, um Chair, board members, member Hudak. Um you're reading that correctly. We do not have any hired custodians on site there. I can um I I don't [clears throat] I assume that they're their own employees are cleaning the

112rest of the school, etc., but I can just confirm that we don't have pay for any employee there, so therefore we're not reviewing for hiring, firing types of decisions. Other questions, Dr. Hudak? Other questions or comments from board members? As you see outlined in your board packet uh and with Mr. Bombach's addition, the administrative recommendation is laid out for you there. I would seek a motion to approve the resolution to renew the lease with the state of North Dakota for space used by Community High School North Dakota Vision Services School for the Blind Building at 500 Stanford Road for the period of July 1, 2026 to June 30th, 2027 and to pay for that expense from the building fund. The expense outlined there is $173,700. It's been moved by Mr. Larson. Is there a second?

113Second by Mr. Manley. Is there any further discussion? Take a roll call vote. Larson Yes. Manley Yes. Lunn Yes. Pomacino Yes. Hodak Yes. Anderson Yes. Klevin Yes. Flynn Yes. Burger Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. 6G, appointment of assistant superintendent of elementary education. Dr. Brenner. Thank you, Mr. Chair. You have a memo from me in your board packet and I'm happy to to announce that both of our candidates are here this evening and we'll start with the assistant superintendent of elementary education, Mr. Chris Triggs is being recommended for that position. So, at the beginning I'd like to inform all of you that there were a total of nine applications for the positions of assistant superintendent of both elementary and secondary education. And following a thorough screening process, five candidates were selected for

114interviews, which were conducted on Friday, April 10th, 2026. The interview team consisted of the people you can see below, those 10 names. What I didn't include in the memo were there there were five observers as well. Cindy Johnson was an observer. Billy Audit, who is the secretary for both Mr. Bakke and Dr. Gullick are two student school board members were in the audience as observers and Brady Olson from the GFE president. The interview questions were intentionally developed and organized into the following themes: administration, leadership, pedagogy and instruction, communication, and data skill set. And a scoring rubric was provided to guide each interview team members' thoughts. Following the interview process, the team reached a unified recommendation in support of Mr. Chris Triggs for the position. And subsequent to those interviews on the 10th, I conducted reference

115checks on Mr. Triggs. The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive and consistently highlighted his strong leadership capacity, exceptional relational skills, and unwavering commitment to student learning and continuous improvement. And based on the strength of the interview process, the collective recommendation of the interview team, and the highly affirm affirming reference checks, it's my privilege to recommend the appointment of Mr. Chris Triggs as assistant superintendent of elementary education effective July 1, 2026. The proposed compensation package includes a base salary of 188,400 along with an education factor of $3,600 for a total annual compensation of 192,000 for the 2026-27 school year. And you can see the recommendation for board action is provided below. Thank you. Questions, comments from board members? Um, I'm concerned that um I'm just concerned that having um these two positions filled um with our budget

116crunch that we we're having and such. So, um nothing against you, Mr. Triggs or Mr. Harrison, but I am just concerned about um where the money's coming from. And where is that 4.4 million dollars budget cuts coming from? Almost detailed. Because we did not do anything with the 24 teaching positions except for I think two in there and then those 33 um certified staff or classified staff. So, that's I'm looking for a little bit more information before I make this decision. Dr. Brenner and then perhaps Mr. Babcock. Yeah, thank you board member Hudak for the question. I certainly understand the optics of um uh refilling or filling the two assistant superintendent positions based on the work that we've done collectively since August 14th. Uh we are going to realize the 4.4 million dollar uh budget

117reduction based on the 52 minus uh one of the concepts um that was withdrawn at one of our uh board meetings. Um I think those have been fairly uh fairly well spelled out where how we're going to get to that 4.4 and how we're going to increase some revenue on top of the 4.4. And I can also share um that over the last couple of weeks uh Mr. Bakke has has shared that uh with the projected enrollment at the elementary level, there's a high likelihood um in other words, almost a certainty that we're going to reduce seven classroom positions at the elementary level. So, that's an additional savings on top of the 4.4 and that seven may grow uh to eight. And then you know, some things that I I'm not privileged to talk about

118uh publicly yet. There are some uh there's a partnership that we're looking at um that will that will help us, you know, go well beyond the 4.4. So, the 4.4 will realize uh the seven or eight classrooms at the elementary level. Uh that's another uh you know, 650 to 800,000 dollars there. The revenue that we talked about increasing revenue uh a little north of 300,000. Um we're we're confident that that we're going to do well and and we're going to meet that goal and we're responsible to meet that goal. The other the other thing that I would I would say and and maybe it's it's not implied during within the question. Um but I think during the well, I don't think I know during the five retreats, particularly the four final retreats, um you had

119heard from principals and associate principals about uh the value of our assistant superintendents and how they do support principals and associate principals uh relative to everything that happens at the building level. And and I will offer that in the last 8 years, we have built a system that supports teaching and learning at the classroom level. Uh despite what some people might think about being top heavy or too many instructional coaches or a chief academic officer, those are all the right systems to have in place to ensure that with HRS high reliability schools uh level two, we have effective instruction happening at every classroom and everybody is held accountable uh for that. You've heard a lot of presentations on Wit & Wisdom, how tight we want to be. There's there's no more of this conversation about

120tight and loose. Everything has to be tight. And you've seen with our school presentations under be legendary celebrating success that we're starting to see incremental growth in those areas of literacy uh and in those areas of math. So, um so, while I don't want to sound defensive, I just want to sound uh like this is really these are really really important positions for the school district to maintain our forward momentum. Mr. Bommic, anything to add from a broad budget perspective, the budget realignment process, what things look like into the next school year, anything to Dr. Hodak's question? Yeah, Chair Berger, board member Hodak and all board members, I think that the scrutiny is is really important. I think the time that we're at and and and possibility of future budgets, we have to be very

121thoughtful and actuate these decisions. The one question I thought I heard in what you asked was you know, how do we take go from a list of different concepts to we're not really doing any reduction in force or measurable outside of 0.4 FTE? How are we possibly accomplishing those or even the classified reduction in positions? I would say that's primarily um been done through attrition and reassignment. And so, if there's a position in the school district that's a part of the list, the commitment is that that position will will be sunsetted, that will go away. And the way that works is if it's filled by a person with an individual, is we're working with them hard to to keep them in the district and give them another position. Well, it would seems though, how can

122you give another position without adding? And that's due to the attrition. So, people will make decisions each and every year to leave um a school district, and you know that, but at a district our size, you know, we welcome I always say in my few years, we've welcomed 60 to 100 new teachers every year. And so, if there's a position that opens, we're trying to off-ramp those folks. And that doesn't just go for certified individuals, it's going um with classified. I've been working closely personally on custodial positions and making sure that if if there's somebody who is in our district and wants to remain in our district, that we can accomplish that, but we're still holding to the board agreement and directive on reducing that position that I speak of. Anything else, Dr. Hodak? Other

123questions or comments from board members related to 6 G, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education, Mr. Paul Messina? Yeah, I just have a couple comments. I strongly support both positions that we're looking at. And the reason I'm doing that is I had an opportunity to visit with Jody Thompson who did do the pre- both positions by himself, and he is strongly opposed to having it combined. He strongly supports both positions because he felt that things were not done things were not done on timely basis, and it was a lot of time on him. His family time was not there during that year the couple years that he was doing it. And I think in today's society when we have parents that demand an answer now, not a week from today, that we need those positions so

124we can provide that service to the parents in our community. So, that's why I support both positions. Thank you. Other questions, comments from board members? Dr. Lund. I support both positions too. And and and I think we have to to realize these these two resignations came in at at the end of when we were finishing our budget realignment. But I and I've stated this multiple times before, every time we have a position that opens up we need to the first thing we should do is look at do we need to have do we need that position or can we do it some other way? And I and I think we [clears throat] informally had done that during our board retreats with with these positions. And I think it was pretty clear what we heard back

125from from the the rest of the leadership group below the superintendent levels is that these positions are are vital. And and and I was on the board when when Jody was wore both hats and uh not only could you not do a job and a half, if couldn't even do a job because you were doing 3/4 of one and and and and 3/4 of another and it didn't do anybody uh service. I I I I support both these. I also uh uh on a personal standpoint, I I appreciate for us older bar members that we keep with just one one simple first name cuz it makes it easier for us to to remember even if they're spelled differently. So. >> [snorts] >> Other comments, questions from board members? Ms. Flynn? Um well, it's been a

126little bit since we've done this. So, um I would maybe ask that we hear just even briefly from both of them if that's appropriate. If not, that's okay, too. But um I'll have something to say and then maybe we can one we know and one we don't. Um I uh struggled a lot with this one because um you know, I I think the the optics play a big role in what we do. Um but at the end of the day, um I think it's really the role of the board to make long-term sustainable solutions rather than symbolic solutions or, you know, optic solutions. I think those certainly come into play. Um but, you know, the argument from maybe the standpoint of some of the teachers is valid and it's important to understand and hear. I

127think the acknowledgement and what we've heard from teachers is um you know, we are maybe being asked to do a little bit more with less and um you know, I can certainly acknowledge that. Um but then how I would look at maybe a symbolic cut to administration would be if we are going to, let's say, ask an administrator to {quote} unquote do more with less or however we want to phrase that. Does Does that symbolic decision improve classrooms? Does it uh decrease teacher burnout? Does it improve learning? Does it maintain accountability? And I think for me uh not hiring both would be more of a symbolic uh cut rather than a sustainable solution. And I think the short-term potential savings uh would not be as great as hiring both and realizing a longer, more sustainable

128solution. I think if we do not hire both um there will be more of a trickle-down service. When you have a system in place that then is redone or pulled back this decision is exactly why I fought so hard to not have fourth grade orchestra changed. Because it's been in place for so long and we're asking someone to take 6 weeks to figure it out and then they go away in the summer and then we're expected to have our program ready to go in the fall. And I feel like if we went from two to one, we would be asking administration to do the same thing. And then everyone goes away for the summer and expects sort of the same level of care that they had last year with one less assistant superintendent. And I

129fear if we went down one that there would be less support for teachers and principals. There would We would essentially weaken a system that we've created. I believe strongly that some of the issues we face in our district are less child problems and more adult problems. And because of that, I think the administrators help buffer the adult problems more so that then the teachers can really work on the children and their growth and learning. But I also want to acknowledge that if we move forward with hiring to in a a budget time where we're straining and working effectively with the teachers and GFEA, I think it's important to understand that the board needs and has asked for clear role definitions and that those roles are clearly defined. That we set performance expectations, that we hear

130frequently from um both of those individuals like we do now, that they certainly have a seat at the table, and that there's regular review and accountability. I think now more than ever, um if we're getting any feedback saying we can go from two to one or one to two, that it's important that we say that the roles are going to be clearly defined and we're going to have accountability as well, both positive and negative, you know, however that that goes. So, I think um I would be happy to hear from both of them if they're willing to make a brief statement. I certainly know we're on one, not the other right now. Um but I think also skipping ahead just slightly on the agenda uh to Dr. Hodak's point about maybe some savings. Um there

131is another position that we haven't filled that other people have been doing. So, there's been probably some realized savings there and the the director of building and grounds um and then potentially if that position is approved, that position that's currently being filled by that individual may not be rehired. And so, I think obviously there's some questions to be asked, too, but it's hard to say where on this one without talking about those other ones, too. Um and the full financial picture. So, those are my comments. Thank you. Other questions or comments from board members? Mr. Manley? Um Amber mentioned GFEA and that sparked something in my brain. I know we most of us probably received emails from the the past and the current president of GFEA. So, I'll just throw this over to Joel, the

132GFEA rep here, if uh he has anything he'd like to include in this discussion or any comments or questions for us. Um not at this time. I know that uh you guys had received an email just kind of outlining our thoughts on the whole situation as well. Um obviously not a voting member. Uh this is your guys' decision one way or another. Um I think I'll just leave it at that for right now. Anything else, Mr. Manley? No, thanks. Other questions, thoughts from board members? Uh Dr. Hodak and then we'll go to Mr. Klevan. My last one thought on this is the fact is that I don't believe that we did a deep dive. And those are the words that I've heard um into um the efficiency of our administrators. Replacing Matt and Catherine I

133I just can't believe it. It is such a loss for us to be losing both of them. But at the same time, we have asked teachers to um do other positions and to be moved this way and that way and such. And so and again, um Mr. Triggs, I truly hope you understand this, but um when I look at the elementary administrators that we have from Thorvaldsen to Tannehill to Parkinson, I I just really believe that we have other solutions than to be hiring both positions. So, and I will end with that. Are there questions or comments from board members, Mr. Clevin? I I'm going to I think I'm somewhat disappointed because all of this was discussed at our budget meetings. We have collectively decided this is what we're doing, and I for one felt

134we did a deep dive. I came out of that budget meeting with absolute clarity on the necessity and importance of both these positions. And I'm really looking forward to hearing about their qualifications to get to the topic at hand, which is enshrining their employment offers. Thank you, Mr. Clevin. Any other questions or comments from board members? Well, we've heard a couple of calls for Mr. Triggs to offer a comment or two, so with his presence and his motion toward the podium, I think we're going to get exactly that. Just under >> Okay. Well, I I just want to thank you for considering me for this role. Um >> [clears throat] >> as you can see, you know, I I've I have 23 years as an elementary principal and I'll say this that one of the

135things that I value being in Fargo and being in Moorhead was the strong assistant soups that that supported me and helped provide direction but also helped me through difficult uh adult situations and and their support helped grow me and it helped me to as an elementary principal helped me to grow leadership in in in in the buildings I was at and I mean ultimately it's what teachers are doing with students and I I see my role is is supporting those strong principals and and I know this is a great system so I am excited to to join um but to support those principals so they can be effective with teachers and students and and work through challenges and also take things off their plate that will help them to be better in their role cuz

136principal is a that's a large leveraging factor for school improvement so um and I want to be a big part of that if I've got a lot of experience doing that I I said my interview I have 12 people that worked under me as teachers that are now either superintendents, principals, district leaders and you know I'm I I'm a servant leader I have lots to learn and I will learn along with our principals and our teachers and I I you know 11 schools uh I'll be busy you know to cuz cuz part part of my role is to be visible and be so teachers know that that we support and we value what they are doing in that classroom and and find ways to help them become better so and so I've done I've I

137as a as an elementary principal and I've had experiences to allow me to be a superintendent but really I just what happens at that level I've worked with such good assistant soups and soups that that this role is very very important and and I am what what we call a servant leader and I you know, I'm humble. I'm I'm I have no problem admitting that I make a mistake, but I also have some experience that I think I can help and and be part of this the this district help it get stronger. So. Thank you, Mr. Triggs. Yeah. Um So, yep. That's Any other questions or comments from board members regarding 6G on our agenda tonight, the appointment of assistant superintendent of elementary education? Dr. Lun. I I move that we approve the appointment of

138Mr. Triggs as as the assistant superintendent for elementary education. There's a motion on the floor from Dr. Lun. Uh that the Grand Forks Public School Board approve the appointment of Mr. Chris Triggs as assistant superintendent of elementary education effective July 1, under the terms outlined above including the compensation package a total compensation of $192,000 for the 2026-27 school year. Is there a second? Seconded by Mr. Clevin. Any further discussion? Take a roll call vote. Anderson. Yes. Flynn. Yes. Hodak. No. Clevin. Yes. Larson. Yes. Lun. Yes. Manley. Yes. Pomosino. Yes. Burger. Yes. 8-0-1-0 absent. Motion passes. 6H appointment of assistant superintendent of secondary education. Dr. Brenner. Uh the memo is pretty much a repeat from the first memo. So, I'll just go down to the the last paragraph, the last sentence on that first page of

139the memo. Uh following the interviewing process, the team reached a unified recommendation in support of Dr. Christopher Harrison for the position of assistant superintendent of secondary education. Now, we'll go to the backside. As an internal candidate, Dr. Erison brings intimate knowledge of Grand Forks Public Schools and District 140, the Grand Forks Air Force Base, including a deep understanding of our systems, culture, and ongoing initiatives. His long-standing service with the district ensures a seamless transition in this role, allowing for immediate continuity and leadership and support for our secondary schools. From a professional perspective, I've had the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Erison through his tenure as associate principal at Central High School and now as principal at Red River High School. Through his work, I've witnessed firsthand his ability to approach complex and often difficult

140challenges with thoughtfulness, resolve, and a clear focus on doing what's best for students. Subsequent to the interviews, I conducted reference checks for Dr. Erison. The feedback was highly positive and reaffirmed his strong leadership presence, relational capacity, and unwavering commitment to student learning and staff support. Based on the strength of the interview process, the collective recommendation of the interview team, his proven track record within the school district, and the highly affirming reference checks, it's my privilege to recommend the appointment of Dr. Christopher Erison as assistant superintendent of secondary education effective July 1, 2026. The proposed compensation compensation package includes a base salary of 189, along with an education factor of 5,000 for a total annual compensation of 194,000. You can see the recommendation down below. Thank you. Questions or clarifying comments from board members? Ms. Flynn?

141Could we hear from Mr. Erison? Let's just see if we have any other questions from board members, comments from board members. Dr. Erison, the floor is yours. Um thank you, board. Um, this is truly an honor, a very humbling, um, time for me. As Dr. Brenner said, I've been in the district 28 years. I've served as a teacher, a coach, associate principal, and now principal Red River for the last 15 years, and I'm just really excited for this opportunity. Grand Forks schools means a great deal to me. Um, both my wife and I have been in this district, like I said, my wife for 30 years and now me for 28. All three of my kids have gone through this school district and have had amazing experiences, and, um, I'm just really excited for the

142opportunity. I feel I can step in. Um, I'm filling big shoes. Catherine has been an outstanding assistant superintendent, and been a great role model and mentor for me. I've learned a lot from her, and I think that'll help me move into this position. Um, and um, Mr. Twiggs talked about a servant leader, and I think that really defines what a assistant superintendent needs to be. We need to be there for our building leaders. We need to support them. We need to walk alongside them. We need to help them. We need to, um, ensure that they have the resources that they need to do their jobs at the building level. Um, we need to work alongside our teachers and be there for them, and I think that's really what I'm looking forward to. I'm excited to,

143um, have the possibility to work with all the amazing secondary principals that we have in our district. And really coming into this position, I think being internal is a benefit. There's a lot of things going on in Grand Forks schools, a lot of really great things in our secondary and middle schools. And I'm looking forward to working alongside those guys and really taking what we have and refining it and continuing to do the work that Catherine has started and continue to build on that and make it even better. So, I'm just really excited for the opportunity, and, um, the, uh, the support of Dr. Brenner and the rest of the people in our, in our school district. So, that's what I have to say. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Harrison. Other questions or comments from

144board members? Mr. Clevin. Just comment there's a there's a void left at Red River with this appointment. Uh I having seen the transition in that building from principal to Dr. Harrison, uh it's he's been great. And there's big shoes, literally and figuratively. I've seen your shoes. Um to fill, but uh that's just uh the consequence of good people elevating to a different job. And I look forward to how we solve that problem next. Thank you. Other questions or comments from board members? Seeing none, I would seek a motion to approve the appointment of Dr. Christopher Harrison as assistant superintendent of secondary education effective July 1, 2026 under the terms outlined in the packet including base salary of 189,000, education factor of 5,000 for a total annual compensation of 194,000. So moved. It's been moved by

145Mr. Palmisano. Is there a second? Seconded by Mr. Manley. Any further discussion? We'll take a roll call vote. Palmisano. Yes. Manley. Yes. Lunn. Yes. Larson. Yes. Clevin. Yes. Hodak. Yes. Flynn. Yes. Anderson. Yes. Berger. Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. Take just a moment before we move on to uh 6i and congratulate both of you. Uh looking forward to working with you and and our our students and staff will benefit from from your collective presence. So, thank you and and congratulations to both of you. >> [applause] >> I'm not sure what will be done at a later time, but to Dr. Hodak's point about the work that Dr. Galati and Mr. Bakke have done, you have been an absolute joy to work with and a collective benefit to our district. I'm sure

146there are lots of people who will say lots of things at lots of different places along the way between now and your last day in the district, but I just want to publicly thank you both for your work and for your commitment to our students, to public education. Your advocacy does not go unnoticed. Um the hours are long and and we appreciate the work that you have put in. So, thank you both very much. We'll move on to 6i, appointment of Director of Buildings and Grounds, Mr. Bombak. Yeah, thank you, Chair Burger, members of the board. Um I too have a presentation of somebody I'm very pleased to make. Uh Ms. Daly Wilkinson has been serving in our district here as our our safety and security manager and as an internal hire comes with all

147of the familiarity you would expect. Uh in her two-year almost three years with the school district, she's really demonstrated a great sense of leadership. I would I would underscore among all other qualities. Uh she has been visible and within buildings and I don't meet a person who doesn't say um good things about Daly Wilkinson. And uh if you also know her, um she can be tough, too. As a little bit of a background and history working in law enforcement, she can really hold her own and I think combined that's going to continue to prove as a very strong leader. Um I note just a few of those skill sets. When we went through our interview process, um first and foremost, I want to highlight our committee and and say thank you. We had um one

148external person spending some time uh on our committee and that's Chris Arnold with Altru um health systems. Chris um used to serve in the role as as B&G director. You're all familiar with that, but what you might not be familiar is still today, if you ask anybody about his name, um he's often held up as as a incredible director and almost a unicorn of of when he served. And so, having him a part of our committee was really great. Eric Holm, as our maintenance supervisor for the past probably 14 years, um was wonderful. Corey, um head custodian of Kelly, um had come and served on our committee as well, an important voice. Dr. Harrison, uh you just heard from, served. Amber Basinger, the associate principal of Diamond Middle School. Ellie Parkinson, um got the elementary

149perspective. Dr. Dietrich, as it relates to special education, um very important perspective. And myself, we served on that. Uh we did have uh 19 paper applications come through on the outset. We had invited six um to interview. And um ultimately did interview four. We had two internal, two external, um that sat through those interviews. Um and uh a lot of really thoughtful um conversation I would just highlight in that entire perspective. Daily doesn't come with some of the most traditional background you would expect from your buildings and grounds director. Uh but, from what I highlighted before, um very comfortable with that. The whole committee is comfortable with the recommendation moving forward, but I want to also highlight her tenacity to learn the job and learn from it. She's poured into um credentials and understanding of

150systems that doesn't haven't been in her um traditional training um related to facility management and has been pursuing a professional credit to that um to that end for nearing a year. There's a lot to be said about Daily, and even maybe more conversation about the position um she vacates as well. But, the committee recommendation outlined in the memo here is to hire Ms. Daily will consider the B&G director role on a 260-day contract starting at step zero with an annual base salary of $110,082 um effective as soon as May 1st with the internal candidacy and the ability to put her in that role ahead of our construction season, we're recommending a start just as soon as we can. Thank you. Questions from board members for Mr. Bombach? Dr. Lund? Just a quick comment and question.

151Having been on finance committee and working with Daily pretty extensively with all the different construction things that are going on, she's been a joy to work with and it's clear that she knows her stuff and if she doesn't know it 100%, she goes out and learns it so that she comes back and she knows it 150%. So, I I strongly support this. One question is is will we be replacing her position as she vacates that or will that be molded together? I didn't I think you might have mentioned it, but I didn't quite catch it. It's a Board members, it's an important question and we did not want to get ahead of our hiring committee to stay focused on if this is the right choice nor the board in their decision. So, we haven't completely

152tackled that question. I would say as of right now, we will not immediately post that position. They'll need to be exactly that review process we've talked about. Other questions? Mr. Clevin? You referenced a 260-day contract. Is that standard or is there something unique to this? No, Board member Clevin, that's that's the extent of the B&G director contract. That's the working days within the calendar year and yeah, the same as prior. Yep, Dr. Lund? Just clarification. That's a director position so they're in the director's agreement to your agreement. Other questions from board members? Ms. Flynn and then we'll go back to Mr. Clevin. I just need to echo Dr. Lund's comments. Um I think this position has been you know certainly we have had a lot of building projects going on and have come to the

153culmination of a lot of those but the work doesn't stop and I think this is a a really prime example of an individual who um stepped up to fill a gap and who pulled up the bootstraps and said I'm going to be a team player and work really hard and um when Daily has come to the finance meetings to explain to us some things the comments have been concise and on point and factual and I've appreciated um the level of uh personable nature but also this is just how it is um she can also hit a mean softball I've seen her hit one of those so um uh I think I I'm just proud that we have people in our district who rise to the occasion I think this will be a great hire. I

154would echo those comments. I know some in the public the perception might be well the Career Impact Academy is up and running and the new Valley Middle School is up and running and so you know what what what is the sense here and now but um Daily's been so involved with the pre-K through eighth grade school project out on the Air Force base. We have safety and security upgrades that continue to happen throughout our district uh and so again to Ms. Flynn's point uh in in our meetings particularly around the the Twining build and out on the Air Force base um she's been an invaluable member of those conversations and and has simply done the work because the work was there in the absence of of others uh just so much appreciated uh uh, all

155of her efforts and and her presence, and um, the the commitment to doing what it takes to keep a project moving. Um, so exciting to see that groundbreaking come in just around the corner, and um, excited to see what's next. Dr. Brenner? Yeah. It It It hasn't been underscored or highlighted, but uh, in the absence of Jonathan Elwine, who left in October, uh, there's been a savings of just about $100,000 with the salary and benefits. But, more importantly, uh, Brandon Bombak and Daily Wilkinson and Eric Cole, them all three of them, um, have tri-led the B&G department. So, uh, a step hasn't been missed at all. So, it's been uh, to Dr. Hodak's earlier point, uh, there's been excessive workload, uh, put on three individuals uh, to make sure that safety and security is still

156happening. And uh, our E3s are still, you know, going off at 12:18 a.m., and you're responding to those, and I'm hearing them at home as well, uh, like everybody else, uh, who has that on their on their phone. So, I just wanted to underscore that three people have really stepped up and have worked some long hours. Other questions or comments from board members? Seeing hearing none, I would, uh, seek a motion to hire Ms. Daily Wilkinson as a buildings and grounds director for 260-day contract at step zero with an annual base salary of $110,082 effective May 1st, 2026. So, moved. It's been moved by Mr. Larson. Is there a second? Second. Second by Mr. Clevin. Any further discussion? We'll take a roll call vote. Lunn? Yes. Hodak? Yes. Manley? Yes. Flynn? Yes. Clevin? Yes. Larson?

157Yes. Pomasan? Yes. Anderson? Yes. Burger? Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. Uh, Daily, no board member requested that you come to the microphone. I I I think it's I'll just say it this way. I think it's because um we've we've seen everything we've need to see we've needed to see from October until now. Uh so, congratulations are in order and and welcome to this new role. Thank you. 6J second reading and adoption of policy GDB graduation exercises. Dr. Brenner? I believe that Dr. Hodak Excuse me. Yes, I had that in my notes. I just had I was read down one line. Uh Dr. Hodak and then uh Dr. Lund and I were also a part of that review, but Dr. Hodak will lead with you. Well, we discussed this at the last

158board meeting, had the approval of the first reading, and so that's what we need to do tonight is to um complete the second reading and adoption of policy GDB um for graduation exercises as presented. Thank you. Dr. Lund, anything to add from your point of view? So, Dr. Lund uh has uh made a motion to complete the second reading and adoption of policy GDB graduation exercises as presented. Is there a second? Second by Mr. Manley. Uh any discussion from board members related to policy GDB? We'll take a roll call vote. Hodak Yes. Larson Yes. Flynn Yes. Ponceano Yes. Anderson Yes. Lund Yes. Clevens Yes. Manley Yes. Berger Yes. Nine yes, zero no, zero absent. Motion passes. That completes section six of our agenda. Moving on to seven. 7A would be announcements. Are there any announcements?

1597B board request for future consideration. 7C, school board meeting norms. Mr. Larson, how did we do? We did very well and we had the phone on. We did very well. We had a lot to say tonight and I will relay um the comments from Brandon about Chris Arnold, except I will change it from unicorn to horse's ass. >> [laughter] >> Mr. Larson, which school board norm has to do with being respectful at the board table and when visiting with the public? That's that's the one. And with that, we are adjourned.