00:00:06,900	Good evening. I’m Dan Eastgate, president of the Bismarck School Board. It’s 5:15 on Monday, March 10th. I call this meeting to order. Welcome everyone and thank you for joining us both here and also online. You can find our agenda and follow along online on the school board tab at Bismarckschools.org.

00:00:24,530	There’s also some agendas on the table, uh, backed by the entry door. Mr. Scherr, will you call the roll, please? Mr. Eastgate. Here, Mr. Hager. Here, Mr. Lee, here, Mrs. Peterson. Here, Miss Presky. Here.

00:00:37,500	All members are Pledge of Allegiance. United States of America. ation. and So Thank you. Item 1, see, the BPS mission vision and values, the BPS mission is to empower every learner to thrive.

00:01:18,000	The BPS vision states together are a strong relationships, build inclusive, collaborative and innovative environments that create agency and inspire a passion for learning, excellence and discovery. The BPS values are inclusion, excellence, innovation, and leadership. You can also find a link in the agenda to the BPS strategic plan. Item 2 is to adopt the agenda. What are the wishes of the board? The move we adopt the agenda. We have a motion in a second.

00:01:33,800	Any discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Scherr Hager, yes, Lee, yes. Peterson. Yes. Presky, yes. Yes, motion passes. Item 3 is focus on success. We have 3A, Bismarck Public Schools Foundation, Dr Fastnacht, good afternoon, board members. Nice to see you.

00:02:00,730	Um, I have a pleasure tonight of introducing, um, our new foundation director replacement Miss Stacy Lang, uh, who departed us for greater and better opportunities at the Capitol, and we were fortunate enough to have a long extensive search, Mr.

00:02:17,230	Hager and I, and there are several others on the foundation board at the interview several applicants, and we were pleased to have have Miss Nygard say yes to our request. She started working um February 10th has been very hard at it, getting up to speed, uh, all the foundation work. I’m gonna let her share a few of the things that she’s been working on. Uh, she’s been entering the task, but Miss Nygard, you are at the podium. Good evening, Miss.

00:02:36,500	Thanks for joining us tonight. I’m and I’m very excited to take over the foundation director role. I wanted to recognize Stay in her contributions she has made over the last 5 years. I’ve had the privilege of working here for the last 4 weeks, and I’m enjoying it.

00:02:53,100	I’m excited for the upcoming scholarship processes and senior graduations. I look forward to working with everyone and, Sorry, excuse me. I look forward to working with everyone in the coming months. Thank you. Thanks very much. We’re not going to let you take any questions. Board members, I know we had a chance to, to introduce ourselves, Ms.

00:03:13,370	Nygaard earlier, but any questions or comments from the board, Mr. Lee. Uh, thank you, Mr. President. I just want to say welcome and big shoes to fill. I know you’ll do well, and there is no, Better accent than an Australian accent. So it’s fun to hear you talk. Thanks. Any other comments from the board? Ms.

00:03:31,530	Nygard, thanks again for being here. We appreciate you. We look forward to the, the scholarship night coming up here this spring. It’s always a highlight for the board and uh I’m sure it will be for you and the rest of the district as well, so thank you. And I’m for our agenda is public comment.

00:03:47,130	The board recognizes the central role that parents play in the education of their children and support active parent involvement in the educational process. The board’s practice of public comment reflects and aligns with policy BCBA in the spirit of its intent.

00:04:03,500	For classroom issues, it’s best to follow the chain of command from your teacher to the principal to the assistant superintendent and ultimately with the superintendent for district-wide issues, please

00:04:12,100	that you be responsible, be helpful, and be respectful. Our BPS students deserve to have adults model the expectations that we have for them. Groups are urged to select one spokesperson, Individuals will be limited to no more than 4 minutes and we’ll be notified with 30 seconds remaining to conclude their remarks.

00:04:29,870	The board does not debate issues as presented, but does take such matters under advisement Without please stand in the approach of the podium if you’d like to speak tonight. Uh, please state your name for the minutes and the agenda item about which you’ll be speaking. There’s also a sign up sheet if you choose to at the podium.

00:04:48,900	Do Go ahead you Welcome. Good evening. My name is Michelle Harmstead. And I will be discussing the budget or not the entire budget, obviously. um, but particularly in regards to the 4th grade and 5th grade orchestra program.

00:05:12,900	So as a community member and as a parent of student in orchestra as a graduate of the Bismarck Public Schools Orchestra program. I am so passionate about this program. You guys, I would not be here doing, I’m, I’m an engineer. Music got me through engineering school, OK? Um, I was pretty distressed when the 4th grade program got cut. I had a student going into 4th grade. We’ve lost him.

00:05:32,230	He is no longer interested, and I don’t know that that necessarily would have been the case, but it’s a crucial age. This 4th and 5th grade time is a crucial age. My second or my first son actually attends Sily Middle School. This is his 3rd year in orchestra. It’s been so good for him.

00:05:49,770	Math, English, all of the traditional coursework comes so easy to him. Orchestra gives him a challenge that allows him to think in a different way. He’s developed relationships with people there, and we’re really looking forward to the opportunities that orchestra brings, and his teachers are fabulous. They’ve given him this opportunity to shine in a way that is just incredible.

00:06:10,630	Um As you know, multiple studies have proven the benefits of children learning instruments. From correlations between playing in uh musical instruments and facilitating anxiety management, and that was a study in 2014 on cortical thickness to boosting standardized test scores, which is really important, and I’m happy to email these specific studies to you if you’re interested, but continuing, continuing to provide

00:06:35,170	opportunities to children at this crucial age is paramount. This is so important. So from personal experience, I started in the 4th grade. Like I said, it’s a crucial part of my development. Music. It brings my soul to life and you know, I, I can’t tell you. I don’t know.

00:06:53,900	Middle school is hard for everybody, right? And given the opportunity to just trudge on through to middle school and to learn something new that is also very difficult. You’re missing out on such an opportunity. So if we I know that you’re responsible for making very difficult decisions every day.

00:07:15,900	I know that the budget is incredibly important, and I respect, I appreciate what you do. But as a parent, as a community member, I’m urging you to consider keeping and maybe even adding in that 4th grade again because it is so important. Thank you. Thank you. Hi there. Hi, my name is Justine McManus, and I’m a 5th grader at Miller Elementary.

00:07:43,500	I’m here to talk about the orchestra program and why it needs to be an option for elementary students next year. Orchestra does many things like helps reduce stress, enhances our mods, provide its conjective enhancement and improves our sleep.

00:08:03,270	It also helps the brain in many ways, listening to classical music has been found to enhance areas of the brain associated with dopamine segregation, learning and memory. The best type of music to listen to is classical music and. sounds and instrumental music. Which orchestra has a lot of those factors in it. Orchestra can also help make tasks easier for many students in household chores because it helps problem solving abilities.

00:08:22,630	If you do this before school, students will be more engaged in schoolwork and lessons. I think orchestra should still be an elementary school because it has inspired me to do many things.

00:08:37,630	I started learning the violin in 4th grade, like violin, Vola, and the cello are hard instruments to learn, but school is hard too, and being able to learn this instrument has given me extra confidence in my. School work. Orchestra gives us a lot of peace and very beautiful, beautiful music that we can share with our family and other students.

00:08:51,730	There are 4th graders that are really looking forward to being an orchestra, and if it is taken, you will have a lot of very upset children. Music kids relax and not be grumpy and yell at teachers or staff at my school, there was a student that had anger issues, and that student started orchestra.

00:09:09,800	It calmed them and didn’t yell at teachers or staff as much orchestra inspired me to love and care for more. things because of the responsibility of caring for a fragile instrument. My mom inspired me to play because she played when she was my age, and I found a love for the violin, and now I have the confidence and the ability to try out for strong strings.

00:09:26,200	In conclusion, orchestras is a vital part of my day, and I could not imagine having it. So this, the students of the future should be allowed to have the same opportunities that I’ve been allowed. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening, everyone. My name is Beverly Everett.

00:09:56,100	I’m the music director of the Bismarck Mandan Symphony Orchestra and for the past 3 years, I’ve been the conductor of the Bismarck Mandan Symphony Youth Orchestras, and many of my colleagues and I are here tonight because we care about the music programs in our schools and specifically our string program.

00:10:14,500	I know that others have shared studies and facts about the benefits of being part of a school orchestra. And specifically the benefits of starting stringed instruments at an earlier age, were that not the case, I do not think BPS would have implemented elementary strings in the first place years ago, we know that until last year,

00:10:31,630	the elementary string programs went back as far as 1962, and we can’t find quite anyone who can, who can describe it being earlier than that, but we know that when one of the teachers came here in 1962, it had already been established. I know our time is limited.

00:10:51,000	night and my question to you is what comes next if we’ve cut the 4th grade program and we’re here tonight because of our concern for fifth grade. Will we be back next year for 6, then the following for 7th, and so on until the program is gone entirely.

00:11:09,000	What improvements will the community and the schools see by cutting fifth grade strings. And I’d be interested in it in answers to that question both from a budget standpoint as well as test scores and such things. On March 7th, Governor Armstrong announced an open application for the governor’s band, orchestra and choral programs open to school, community and church bands, orchestra and choirs across the state.

00:11:32,530	The group will be selected on the merits of musical talent, achievement, and community involvement. Do you think that in future years Bismarck schools will be able to compete with other programs such as Fargo, um, Grand Forks, etc.

00:11:51,800	with other programs that start strings at least in the 5th grade or earlier. Please keep strings in our 5th grade. As I stated in my letter, which I thank you for reading that I sent last week. Please let us work together for a creative solution so that we can keep our orchestra programs vibrant and alive. Thank you very much. Thank you. Hi, my name is Miles.

00:12:17,770	I’m a parent of um several BPS children. And um I’m also concerned with the potential for cutting the orchestra program from the elementary schools, um, you know, and as people of other people have mentioned, I believe that music education is important, that it enhances performance, um, in all other subjects and classes and promotes healthy habits.

00:12:41,900	Like self-discipline, talent development offers personal pride and improves the beauty and quality of life. for the community. Um, people learn. And develop and find identity most in their younger years. In the Malcolm Gladwell.

00:13:10,870	Book, um, Outliers, which describes that to be a master or an expert in just about anything requires 10,000 hours of work and practice. By not offering Orchestra or string classes in elementary schools? We’re limiting our children and community’s ability to excel and become great, and we will put our young people behind the pace of their peers from other communities, other states, and around the world.

00:13:31,730	Where they, they begin not just in grade 5, but even age 5. Which is, um, completely reasonable. For, um, violin and other instruments like that. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, my name is Hayley Wigle. My daughter is Justine. She spoke earlier. Um, so obviously I’m here to speak about the strings program.

00:14:00,900	Um, I did not graduate in Pittsburgh Public Schools by any means, but I did start playing violin at the in the 4th grade. Um, I played it all the way through high school.

00:14:12,900	It got me through a lot of really long nights in college, even though I wasn’t on any kind of orchestra when I was in college. Um, like my daughter said she’s grown to love it and it’s also grown to bring our family closer together. I do have a son that is in Bismarck Public schools and an older daughter as well.

00:14:29,900	My younger son is in BET program for hard of hearing and um his neuro central bilateral hearing loss, um, and one of his favorite things is to listen to his sister create music that she wasn’t even taught. She now comes home and plays baby shark for him. Um, and all kinds of other different things. So does my older daughter who’s in band.

00:14:48,000	So like others have said, we’re going to start by cutting 4th grade. Now you’re talking about cutting 5th grade orchestra. When’s it going to stop and start going into band, choir to where all of our arts programs are cut.

00:15:03,000	I’d hoped that you’d be able to find another way to make it possible to continue to at least have the 5th grade, if not, find a way to bring back 4th grade. My daughter started in 4th grade and she so much more confidence boost in her since she’d started to learn. She used to be very mild, timid and afraid to speak. And today is speaking to complete strangers on a live. Broadband broadcast of a board meeting.

00:15:22,100	So please keep that in mind. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Good evening. Hi, my name is Maureen Murchie. You also received a letter from me and thank you for reading that. home as well, um, I am a violinist. I’m the concertmaster of the Bismarck Mandan Symphony.

00:15:50,370	I taught Orchestra and BPS last year, school year. Um, I moved to Bismarck to take the job with the symphony and in BPS, uh, in largely because of what I had heard about the BPS Orchestra program.

00:16:10,730	I’d heard that it was growing and thriving, uh, that you had good teachers, that you had support from the community and it was so exciting to me to join that. I’m now in a different role. I work at BSC and my Mission out there is very closely tied to BPS and music choir, band, orchestra because I want to bring the students who have started their music education in.

00:16:33,630	Your district through to BSC and help them continue using what they’ve um Developed in in their lives and in their careers so that they can continue using music as a tonic, uh, as an escape, and as a mode of expression, I think it’s and I really thank you for the story.

00:16:55,630	um, Justine and, and Hailey, I, I love to hear stories like that that helped students come out of their shell and tackle things like stage fright and so forth. Um, but what I want to do, since I’m a professional violinist, I would like to answer the question that Some of you may have, which is why orchestra, why does orchestra need that

00:17:12,730	head start those 2 years or 1 year? Why can’t it just start in 6th grade like choir and band, um, and it has to do with the physical demands of playing a string instrument.

00:17:32,900	It’s very, very complicated to have this wooden box on one hand and strung up with things and stick with horse hair in the other hand and the balance and the angles and all of these little muscles, um, one of mine is not working right now. Courtesy of your North Dakota IC, uh, that I fell on, broke my wrist, but all of these, um, very fine motor skills and uh string playing. Elements have to be developed.

00:17:54,630	It’s the same concept of why do we put braces on children’s teeth, you know, why is that our first choice instead of when they are in high school or college. Why is it easier than that’s they’re more malleable, they’re more moldable. And, uh, we need that extra year. We need that extra 2 years to help them succeed.

00:18:14,130	It’s not that they won’t get music education. It’s not that they won’t get these social skills and the empathy piece, if they start in 6th grade.

00:18:34,770	But the, the enjoyment piece that comes from improving on, on an instrument and actually getting better at that skill is much, much higher for strings, if they can start at an earlier age, and it just has to do with the physical demands, uh, of, of that. There’s a reason, if you’ve heard of the Suzuki method, you know, 3 year olds playing.

00:18:54,730	Twinkle Twinkle little star, you know, en masse, uh, there’s no Suzuki tuba, you know, there aren’t, it’s because those instruments are, kids can’t hold them, they’re too big and they don’t make baby tubas, so a lot of, again, the physical limitations are why band, uh, starts in 6th grade.

00:19:10,200	That’s when they can actually handle it, and they, that’s when they can take a mouthpiece and they have the lung, start to have the lung support, start to have the, the, the lip um formation that they can do. Strings.

00:19:27,170	can start earlier and should, and that’s why most of the country you will so many districts, you’ll see it’s very common that orchestra starts in 4th grade, starts in 5th grade, um, so I just, I wanted to share that piece from a, uh, the standpoint of someone who plays to those of you who might not um be so um versed in string technique yet, but, uh, anytime you want to learn more, I would be happy to share, but thank you so much for Letting us join you tonight and I appreciate

00:19:49,730	your time. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Karl Kroger. I have the privilege of serving as one of the pastors at McCabe United Methodist Church, and I’m just here to add my voice to, uh, thank you for the work that you do and to encourage

00:20:11,370	you to look at ways not to cut, but to actually raise the bar, and I too would encourage you to think about reinstating 4th grade and, and even looking at ways to um raise the bar and be a model in the state of what a strong music education program

00:20:26,370	can be. I know I came from a, a school district in, in Rapid City. that had bann that started in 5th grade and I started the violin in 4th grade, and many years later as a pastor, I continued to benefit from those music experiences and my various roles and here in Bismarck, our church is

00:20:45,100	blessed to have incredible musicians, um, including students who play a vital role in our worship experience. We have students who both volunteer and are paid professionally because of the skills that they have learned and honed through the business. Mark, uh, school district.

00:21:06,900	So I encourage you to look at ways to just empower and invest in students and to be an example to the rest of the state, especially when they may not have some of the same resources that we have. Thank you. Thank you. Hi there, I’m Rob Pesky, and uh I’ve had many of your children in my class.

00:21:31,470	I’ve taught orchestra in Bismarck for I think 7 years and also sent you an email and I appreciate you taking the time to read that. And I just wanted to say, um, I know some of the concerns people have had about the orchestra program is budgeting and staffing.

00:21:46,830	And uh a a wise friend of mine once said, the best way to deal with an orchestra teacher is to treat him like a math teacher. And if you wouldn’t say it to a math teacher, you shouldn’t say it to an orchestra teacher and uh things like, you know, we just can’t find anyone to teach the class. You would never say that to the math teacher.

00:21:58,130	You say, you know, we can’t find staff for 4th grade math, so we’re just not going to do 4th grade math this year. Um, could you just teach math before school? Or, or maybe you could take math, uh, as like an afterschool activity or some sort of bonus activity.

00:22:13,170	We would never consider doing those things. And so I would just, um, say, I echo everything everyone said today, but I do believe music and orchestra is a core curriculum, part of our district, and I’m proud to have been a part of that district as a student, as a teacher, as a parent, and also as a community member.

00:22:31,370	And when you’re wrestling with those issues, I understand, um, my master’s degree is in administration, and so the joke I would always tell is that I was more qualified to be the school principal than the orchestra teacher.

00:22:47,870	Uh, so I understand those challenges, and I would just encourage you to treat orchestra like you would treat any other core curriculum, any other class, and any other teacher in our district. So thank you for your time. Thank you. Hello, Kyle Debrain. Great to see you guys and the board, uh, just very quickly, last May 7th, um, there was a huge concert at the Bismarck Event Center.

00:23:16,200	Did anybody go there? I think there are a few people there. This is what I wrote for Facebook. Oh my gosh. Orchestra in Bismarck is alive and healthy. There are about 87,000 people at the Bismarck Event Center. I was being a little dramatic there.

00:23:39,100	To watch and listen to hundreds of students and then I wrote good work, Bismarck Public Schools. And so I think it’s awesome that there’s several people here talking about this. I can’t imagine the work that you have to do for budgeting Bismarck public schools. So first of all, I’m a proud public school parent. Thank you very much.

00:23:56,200	If we could keep this, this would help my sons, a lot. So appreciate it. Thank you. Good evening, school board members. Uh, my name is Nathan Sasinin. I’m a Bismarck native graduate of Bismarck High School, and I came up through the orchestra program in BPS.

00:24:25,070	I started orchestra in 4th grade, um, and I was fortunate to do orchestra 2 years in elementary school, and it gave me the unique opportunity to switch instruments after my first year. I started on viola, but my orchestra teacher had a hunch that I would be good at the double bass, and she switched me to the next, um, starting in 5th grade, I started playing double bass, and it gave me a

00:24:41,630	great opportunity to be able to be up to speed on that 2nd instrument by the time I started middle school. Um, if Orchestra starts in middle school. It’s gonna be competing with band and choir, and unfortunately orchestra just isn’t going to win.

00:25:04,770	Um, students are not going to want to register for orchestra because of the popularization of band and choir. Um And the orchestra program in Bismarck really has grown a lot. When I was in middle school, my orchestra classes were between 15 and 20 students.

00:25:28,130	And I took a few days over Christmas break to go observe um at Water Middle School and just watch the orchestra teacher and see the program, and there were 40 kids crammed into that 6th grade orchestra classroom. That’s almost 3 times the size of my 6th grade orchestra. The program really has grown a lot, and the arts community in Bismarck is growing so much.

00:25:48,830	And I’m excited to be a part of it, and I hope that you will allow it to grow. The big question I encourage you to ask yourselves is, will you allow it to grow? Um, I think PPS should be encouraging these students to participate in music as early as they can, and I encourage you to look past the numbers.

00:26:07,100	And just look at the smile on the on the faces of these kids in orchestra. They have so much fun. And look past the numbers. And just do What your heart’s telling you to do, you to do. Thank you. Thank you. Last call for any public comment here tonight. Seeing none Public comment is now closed.

00:26:39,800	Thank you for those of you that have come to share tonight. Item 5 monitoring district operations. We have no monitoring reports for this meeting. Move on to item 6 on the agenda, matters reserved for board action. Item 6A, the spring 2025 Superintendent summit of evaluation.

00:27:02,000	Dr Fastnacht normally I would pick on you to lead on these, but because this is about you, I get to take the lead, so, um. I just thought I would read some of the board commentary we’ve had a chance to review the results and the operating expectations that have gone through, um, so we’ve had a chance to look at all those, but I just thought I would go

00:27:17,500	over a few of the board comments that came in from board members, um, and then board will go ahead and, and, uh, take board action on this. So Dr Fastnacht is a responsive educator, community and board.

00:27:34,730	Feedback to support financial and facility planning, in particular, Dr Fastnacht and his team led the community forums and put information together to support transportation and scheduling changes throughout it all, he utilized the operational excellence Committee to inform next steps and kept the rest of the board in the loop through memos and board presentations. In regards to the R 2.1 literacy report.

00:27:50,170	I was impressed that Dr Fastnacht and the team in an effort to put together a report that was responsive. To the learning Excellence team suggestions contacted, um, the board member directly to discuss concerns about data accuracy.

00:28:07,630	I was impressed that Dr Fastnacht and Andrea Seibel came with Proactive data-driven solutions to create a report that was meaningful and will help the board focus on results now and in the future. All in all, Dr Fastnacht continues to lead the BPS team towards positive outcomes and and I’m confident he will continue to drive continuous improvement efforts in all areas. Another comment Dr F Fassnutt’s doing a great job balancing all various aspects of the superintendent position.

00:28:26,000	I’m pleased with his job performance, his vision for the district, and the direction he is moving the district. I want to thank him for all the time and hard work he puts into BPS. And one other comment, Dr Fastnacht you’re getting good reviews here.

00:28:40,730	Um, I know it’s uncomfortable in that seat sometimes, but Dr Fastnacht has continued his great work in leading our district, communication with the board, educators and the community has continued to be a great strength. Dr Fastnacht’s willing to have the hard conversations that come across his desk while keeping a solutions oriented approach to working toward district goals, including improving educational systems, budget discussions and transportation.

00:28:59,000	Additionally, as we’re in a legislative year, he’s also using his knowledge and expertise to advocate for the priorities and needs of public public education for our state. Under Dr Fastnacht’s leadership, EPS continues to make strides in preparing our learners to be community ready, whether it be college career or military.

00:29:17,100	We’ve seen our career academy grow into a center-based model serving the region in and around Bismarck as well as more pathways for learner-based choice and educational options leading towards improved scores for all earners. Lastly and most importantly, Dr Fastnacht is leading the right way.

00:29:34,100	He continually lifts up his team and educators in the district, giving others credit for the successes while also taking on the challenges that come in the way of his office.

00:29:39,100	Thank you, number one. Um, with that board members, you’ve had a chance to again to go over the different OEs and R’s that we have had, um. So we have, you know, the board’s prior monitoring of these policies. What are the wishes of the board? Oh, Mr. Lee, I didn’t see the light on, sorry. That’s fine.

00:30:03,000	Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, I move that we accept the superintendent’s spring 2025 summit of evaluation as satisfactory. Well, second. We have a motion in a second. Any further discussion on the evaluation. Seeing none, Mr. Lee, yes. Peterson. Yes. Presky? Yes. Hager? Yes, Eastgate. Yes. Motion passes. Thank you very much, Dr Fastnacht.

00:30:28,000	Did you wanna comment commentary. I’m glad you noticed my light. You’re welcome. Um, I guess let me just acknowledge first. Thank you. Thank you for continuing to, uh, affirm that my work, even though I stumble sometimes that I’m heading the right way and, and doing good work for the district. I appreciate your support.

00:30:48,470	I appreciate your overly kind words, um. You can be critical when you need to. Please remember that if it’s not going right, you can always let me know that I can do better and help you out, and I would say maybe one of these times is communicating with these people who are very passionate about, which is wonderful, by the way,

00:31:06,000	talking to the audience. Wonderful to know that we have people who are passionate about programs and what we do for kids, not just their tax statement. Amen. Um-hum. OK, that was loaded comment, so but I appreciate it.

00:31:23,500	Um, that, uh, it, it really is important, the work we do for kids, and I just want to acknowledge also the hard work that you do, and we really do in partnership, so I just really appreciate that. Thank you for being a good partner with me as we leave the district. Thanks.

00:31:42,630	Uh, board members as we continue on the agenda, we’re at item 6B, Bismarck Education Association negotiating unit request. Some background that we had uh had a receipt of the petition to recognize the Bismarck Education Association as the appropriate negotiating unit. For the certified licensed staff employed as a professional classroom teachers, librarians, and counselors who are not administrative or supervisor in nature.

00:31:59,370	A notice was posted in every school in the district, um, following the BPS board and that we would address that tonight on March 10th, 2025 to consider the petition and determine its validity. With that, what is the wish of the board? Or any discussion. Do Fast something.

00:32:21,170	I was just going to say to help, um, this, remember this phrase came right out of school boards, it’s kind of a little wonky. We kind of gave you the background, which you’ve already referenced, the motion if you need some is at the end of your statement, so you can condense, we tried to condense it for you, so Ms.

00:32:35,100	Peterson, and with that, I move that the board recognizes the Bismarck Education Association as the representative organization for a minimum of one year beginning July 1, 2025. second. Motion by board member Peterson, second by Mr. Hager and Mr. Lee. You can pick Mr.

00:32:57,000	roll, please. Peterson. Yes. Presky? Yes. Hager? Yes. Lee? Yes. Eastgate. Yes, motion passes. And last in 66 board member school visit updates board members, I didn’t get a chance to check in to see if anybody had some, but I believe we have a few commentary from schools, uh, Ms. Peterson.

00:33:16,230	Yeah, I can start, um, didn’t officially have a school visit. I have one tomorrow, which is my last one, but, uh, board member Hager and I were invited and able to attend um the Bismarck High Zenden, and um I’ll tell you a little bit about what that is, uh, you know, both of us have a deep

00:33:35,530	Bismarck High roots, and so we had heard a couple of comments from uh an educator, uh, Wendy Bakke, who had kind of recognized a need, um, at the school.

00:33:56,900	and kind of reached out to to leadership to get some approval to put together a um Zenden um for teachers at the at the building, and so, um, really, honestly, it started with a, a recognition that there was an open closet in some of the new area that they had at the um in the auditorium and um rather than just use the, there was already a storage closet, so it didn’t take up any, any space that was already being used, um, but they, they

00:34:15,470	recognize this need that teachers. Uh, oftentimes we’re feeling kind of maybe overwhelmed and needing, needing the opportunity to kind of just get some quiet in their day, um, and, and, and really, I don’t want to just say unwind, but really prepare for kind of some of the things that, you

00:34:30,530	know, the, the different behavioral issues that they are dealing with, maybe some academic, um, uh, supports, and so, um, together with kind of public and private partnerships, uh, this was kind of no, no funding that was needed from the school or, or even the school board or anything of

00:34:47,200	that nature, um, but reached out and was able to get donations from local businesses, um, primarily, um, what really kind of went into this was basically a couple coats of paint and and a massage chair, and so that was like the biggest, the biggest thing that had an expense, and she was

00:35:04,100	able to not only get a donation, um, and a discount for the chair, but a donation from the mussa um, of $2000 to be able to put together that that massage chair.

00:35:19,500	And really what you do as an educator is if you want to book it out for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, um, in the day, um, they have it scheduled just like a conference room and um teachers are able to go in there and utilize that space so, um, uh, Josh and I were both able to go and Sample the the massage chair, um, we were able to, there’s a, there’s journaling,

00:35:39,370	there’s some other kind of ways to do kind of positive, positive affirmations. There’s, there’s water, there’s a Zen garden, um, just different things in the room and everything is really heavily researched for, uh, just supporting, um, well-being, and I know that in a lot of our school visits, we’ve mentioned different ways, teachers and

00:35:59,500	leaders are creating kind of wellness, um, activities for their staff and students and uh just different things. This was just 11 area, um, that, that she was really proud to to showcase, but also, um, just to put like a pin in it for any other, uh, uh, somebody else who’s listening to this and

00:36:17,730	wants to maybe put something together and, and, and really did work to to create that all, um, those partnerships and those donations.

00:36:32,730	Um, and so, uh, she gave us, uh, some of the, the code to get in there and so I know, uh, I, I might use it even have a band concert later. Today, um, uh, to, to go, to go visualize, you know, took a watch, and so I’m, I was really excited to just be a part of that and and hear about how many educators are using that.

00:36:49,370	They’ve been taking research and surveys on that so that it keeps getting used and make sure that it’s uh still data driven and useful for their their building and so far it’s been a really good success that they’re building.

00:37:03,630	So, um, just shout out to Wendy for putting that together and just for BHS for kind of being innovative and and all the, all the schools who are really putting well-being. at the, at the center. That’s awesome. Thanks a lot for that report and thanks to Ms.

00:37:16,000	Bakken for, uh, on behalf of all the other teachers at Bismarck High, it comment to your report. Thank you for sharing that, um, yeah, this, this year you, you heard that and uh coming back to school, we want to elevate.

00:37:32,000	It’s, it’s raising up our kids, right? But to be prepared to raise up our kids, we need to elevate our educators, and we need to elevate their well-being. It’s been a push all year. Ms. Bakken came to us last year. that request just for the sake of you and our, um, constituents, there was only a few rules like Go find the money, go find businesses and people who are donate the money because it won’t come from central office or the board, as

00:37:50,630	you said, and then use spaces, you can’t use a space that’s a student space. OK, so these are staff spaces that we already had that have been re-tasked, so you don’t have to worry that we’re not cheating from a classroom to make an adult space.

00:38:06,100	We’re trying to find a different way to use an adult space, but I do agree with you, Ms. Peterson. Um, just taking 5 minutes, right, during our day just uh release and be for the kids is a good thing. So I’m glad you had a good experience, so. Absolutely.

00:38:24,800	Any other school visits from board members? The only other one I would bring up is just uh a great job to BPS for the WDA tournament this past weekend. Um, you know, the WDA tournament’s a great opportunity.

00:38:39,830	Uh, it’s a, it’s a spot to celebrate kids and we get to see from, from the From the national anthem, Bismarck Eissinger at the beginning of the first game on Thursday, I had a chance to announce, which is so much fun to the, the cheer teams getting out there and getting the crowd into it to the players, um, coach Matt got West Region Coach of the Year and the boys’ side, and we had multiple teams that are

00:38:49,470	going to the state tournament. Um, it’s, it’s just a lot to be excited and proud of, and I just wanted to also say thanks to our activities department, so Dr Fastnacht, if you at the central office, please let them know Mr. Dave Zidelman and his, his whole team of activities directors, um, Mr.

00:39:04,270	Crane, Mitchell, and Levick and, and Kerry Wellsted and Kylie John, all of them, uh, Kylie Johnson, the whole team just did a great job. Awesome tournament.

00:39:18,230	There’s so much that goes into it that people don’t see behind the scenes, and a lot of the volunteers, there’s a great group of BPS alumni and, you know, some different folks that are wandering around making sure that everybody has what they have to pull off a great event, so, um, big thanks to, to that whole group. No other school visit updates we’ll keep moving down the agenda, um. Number 7, the consent agenda.

00:39:34,470	What are the wishes of the board? Mr. Hager I move to accept the consent agenda. Second. We have a motion in a second, any discussion. Seeing none, Mr. Sch Presky Hager? Yes. Lee? Yes. Peterson? Yes. Eastgate. Yes. Motion passes.

00:39:59,370	And into the superintendent’s report, 8 a major projects, Dr F Fassnna, I’m going to hand that off to Mister Chair. Good evening. Good evening, board members, um. Tonight I’ll just give us a quick update, uh, we’re at with our silver ranchur Academy, uh, as you can see in the picture, the all the steel is up for the structure of that.

00:40:27,130	Uh, we’re meeting this Wednesday to go over to field verify all of our underground electrical that will be in both the egg shop and the carpentry shop and I’ve got a Diet Coke bet with somebody that that’ll be totally enclosed by end of March, um. We’ll see.

00:40:48,900	I, I, I think they’re gonna be really close and um Mother Nature was looking out for me there because the weather’s been just Awesome to kinda get things kind of expedited, um, I feel like we’re on track and remember, we will occupy that south part of the building.

00:41:08,100	We’re still looking at ways to help fund to finish that building on the, on the north side, it will be shelled out, but um we have, we have that work to do. Also included the financials for your review. If you have any questions, um, we did get a big influx for the, the CTE grant this, and we’ll be getting that every month, um.

00:41:23,500	Our goal are not our goal is, but the plan is the funding actually is done and we’re not asking for an extension at June 30th, so we will have all of our grant funds, um, expended by that time. And I’d answer any questions that the board would have. Board members, any questions for Mr. Sheer? Don’t see any here tonight.

00:41:44,100	Thanks a lot. Appreciate the report. Fast any uh follow up to that or should we move on to B? 20, 2025, 2026 budget, Dr Fassnot. I do have a few comments tonight.

00:42:04,170	I know we’re leading up and uh probably several successions of workshops dealing with budgets, so this is just kind of a Check in, let you know where we are, and I thought, um, tonight’s actually appropriate maybe to help educate the community too over that budgeting process and where we’re at as we make those decisions.

00:42:19,730	Um, I’m gonna kind of encapsulate my, my comments and the revenue side of the budget, which we normally do, expenditure side of the budget, some of the things that are challenges, and then maybe some of the process going forward on the revenue side, I would tell you, um, first of all, federal funding, uh, we have all heard the narrative coming from DC.

00:42:39,100	Um, as far as funding that is having an impact on your school or potentially could. I can’t say there’s any direct cuts yet, but Ms. Peterson will probably know a couple days before I do, um, but there’s definitely saber rattling at DOE or at and Congress about what they’re going to do with Title I 234 funding, um, Title I probably is the least concerning for me

00:42:57,270	now, but 23, and 4 are definitely pots of money that we rely on every year, uh, for some. of the work we do doesn’t hire a lot of staff, but it does provide a lot of the supports for staff that we’d have to find somewhere else, um, so that, that is concerning.

00:43:18,370	The other one on the revenue side, board members, and you were too close. We can see it every week or every day in the paper is just state level funding for education right now coming out over crossover is a 2%, 2%, um.

00:43:40,830	That that will be a challenge, and we’re building that into, I mean, we’ve talked about projected budgets even back in December, you know, that’s a, that’s less than what our even conservative projections are at, um, so we’re gonna, we have some more work to do on the legislative side this this half and see if we can find some additional funding, um. for the school.

00:43:57,100	The other one that I’ll be testifying or at least providing support for on Wednesday is CTE funding. We’ve been really advocating for continued funding for existing programs, and I know you kind of mentioned it in my evaluation for the center funding, um, that really is in jeopardy.

00:44:19,800	We had a conversation today about maybe not moving programming over to the center just because of the funding model is being changed right now. High anxiety moment today was not the best time to do that. Um, but you saw a significant reduction in new and expanding funding in the first half of the session, so we need to go back and really push for that.

00:44:38,000	That’s gonna put as really not just BPS, all these regions that have built these new career centers that was a push to do that very much widely supported across the state. Um, it’s really a gap now that we built out the brick and mortar. The money came to build this place.

00:44:57,170	the space, um, but now we’re seeing a real constriction on the actual funding to make like the teachers and supplies show up in those spaces, um, so that’s something we have to continue with.

00:45:13,830	On the expenditure side, um, I’d like to address first directly orchestra, I mean, again, to those out here, thanks for coming and voicing your concern, um. I, I would like to say this is, I think this is a nice statement. I benefited from the arts as a child. I didn’t have the opportunity to play strings.

00:45:33,100	I was just a little Class B kid, so I didn’t have that opportunity, but I definitely love the arts and I love to sing, and those are important things and in my heart I don’t want to just kill the arts, that’s not my goal. My goal is not to take away arts from our community.

00:45:54,830	I appreciate the arts, but right now we’re, we’re just, we’re feeling a pinch, and I think, um, Miss Ppesky’s comments to me this evening or to the group, um, resonate. Thank you very much. Um, it, it, and I’m gonna take your words into thought as I do this, it really is, last year was staffing.

00:46:16,200	It was staffing late, um, we’re having, we couldn’t find a person to provide it and really um unlike some other courses, I didn’t, we don’t have many options to go find it somewhere else. I can’t go get it from another vendor, um, so we made, I made the decision early last year that I wasn’t going to let a family purchase a violin, a very expensive instrument, and then say on August 1st, sorry, it’s gone.

00:46:32,870	I didn’t think that was fair to our, our, our. Our parents and um The family. So, we just went into this year saying, what does orchestra look like again, I would tell you that the recommendation coming out of the elementary division was to move it to 6th grade, but That is not really taking any money from you.

00:46:52,000	I’m not gonna pull back any money, so you know it’s not about really the money because we’re just going to reuse the money to hire the same staff and, and provide them to the middle school.

00:47:08,530	So, um, even if we would reduce fifth grade, it’s not about saving the dollars, it’s reallocating our people, OK? That recommendation is still sitting on my desk, um, it’s been sitting on my desk for a while and uh we did meet with our orchestra teachers on February 20th.

00:47:26,170	Just to talk through what would it look like if it’s stayed in 5th grade? What would it look like if it went to 6th grade? What would it look like if it went to 4th grade. Um, you can. All of us can guess that my orchestra teacher’s recommendation was. We’d love it in 4th grade. I agree with you. I would love to too. And did they have concerns about moving to 6th grade? Absolutely.

00:47:45,630	Many of the things that were already um Marine’s comments here exactly what my orchestra teacher said, um, so those are sitting kind of with me as a recommendation and kind of sitting in my mind as we try to navigate this, we have the orchestra position posted, um, it’s been posted for 2 weeks. We extended a week, we got it into a national listing, um.

00:48:06,170	Um, last, maybe last Friday, I think it was, uh, to see if we could find staff members for that, um, that will be a challenge, but we’re hopeful, and if we can, then we get to make different decisions.

00:48:24,370	It will all coalesce around all those factors together and which how we can move forward, but again, competing recommendations, that’s why they get to sit on my desk and we’ll figure it out as we go as we get some of that information. Um, but again, it be very clear, it’s not about Saving you any money. I’m going to spend your money regardless either way.

00:48:40,800	It’s just a matter of where we spend it, OK? Um. The other concerns in the budget though, to be honest, it goes back to the federal revenue side, um, if Title I was reduced, I mean, just to be real clear, Title 1 is 43.9 FTEs in it. That’s 43 people. And slices of people, um.

00:49:04,370	At any reductions in federal funding are going to be really hard and unfortunately they’re going to come really late, um, you know, for a lot of professional staff, there’s timelines of those reductions, so either your, I mean, depending on when we get informed of whatever the new budget allocations are from the from the federal government, um, we could be obligated to pay teachers for another year

00:49:24,100	because. We haven’t, we’re past the timelines for reduction in force and those things. I don’t hope that. I don’t foresee that happening, hopefully, but those are the things that weigh on the budget discussion way in my office, I guess. Um, again, the 2%, 2%, I live with a teacher. She doesn’t work for me.

00:49:44,370	She works for me and Dad, and God bless Mandan. Um, I can’t believe I said that at Bismarck board meeting. I’m sorry, John, um, but, uh, um, but as I told, um, some teachers today, if I could get my teachers 5 and 56 and 6, I would.

00:50:01,470	Honestly, the last couple years have been a challenge. It’s just a matter of, it’s going to be hard to do in an environment where we’re getting 2 and 2 from the state, and I think we’ve all talked about that.

00:50:15,370	That’s something that’s concerning us for the future, um, and really all of our staff, it’s not just teachers. We have custodians, we have Paras, we have cooks that all need a cost of living increase that they’re probably not going to be satisfied with this year. I’m just. I just don’t feel like they will, but I, I hope we can all come to an agreement later this year.

00:50:35,630	Um Needs, um, you’re gonna hear some this week. We have a couple of workshops coming, student support services, which you, on this Wednesday, but renewed for elementary to address student behaviors. I had a I have a request I met with Ms.

00:50:55,900	Nelson today for additional FTE support and special ed, um, special ed really elementary and secondary level, um, additional counselors, additional social workers are all sitting on my desk. All those are great. If you remember last year we let go 3 nurses. Those are. still a desire to have nursing staff back. Um, so those are kind of in the equation.

00:51:13,130	Um, one that we have talked about, I know, but for the sake of the audience, um, EL funding, we’ve talked about the increase in EL students in our, in our buildings, that’s 55 languages. We’ve grown 33% of our EL enrollment since 2023. This year we’re up 47% over last year in newcomers. So we have 6.

00:51:39,470	45 EL students, 170 newcomers that that’s 170 kids that come to our school and don’t speak any English, OK? Um. When the EL coordinary Ms. Simmons is coming to us and saying, hey, we got to find additional support. That’s sitting on the desk waiting um. It, it’s the job, it’s the job you hired me for, it’s a job I love to do every single day.

00:51:58,470	That’s just all the factors that are going into budgeting right now. The the process is just beginning. It’s not done. I will say again for the audience, orchestra’s decision is not done.

00:52:17,630	It’s just sitting in the hopper along with all these others, um, February 24th, I sent an email out to all my principals and coordinators. This is, um, just saying if any position becomes vacant, that is not a classroom teacher. it has to go through my office to get reviewed. Like we’re trying to constrict where we can so we can put money to what our priorities are, and as you know, we have negotiations coming.

00:52:38,000	We have many needs, and we have some wants, but honestly I’ve told my staff, keep your wants because all we’re addressing is needs. That’s about all we can do, and we’ll make the tough choices soon, so. That was a very depressing report. I’m sorry. No, thank you, Dr Fastnacht.

00:52:57,100	Thanks for sharing on those items. Thanks for, um, speaking into some of the concerns, not just from. People here sharing about orchestra, but some of the other ones as well.

00:53:10,630	You know, something as board members, if we’ve had a chance to visit, and even I know as I was responding to some of the emails and phone calls, even just regarding um Tonight’s Conversation on orchestra is just that in our district we’ve continually said for the last couple of years anyway that we’re gonna, we’re trying to do more with less and, and I just think it’s We don’t want to get to a point where we’re having to do less with less, you know,

00:53:26,000	we’ve said again and again and it resonates so much with the emails I received that we have a community in a school district that I care about greatly, and I know these folks do too. I know a lot of people out there do.

00:53:36,630	I know our board does. And so we want to make sure that we’re doing things that we can be proud of and that we have a district, as we’ve said, that leads the way in all these different areas, um, and I’m certainly hopeful that we can continue to do that, but it It, it’s gonna take community support along the way,

00:53:52,100	um, and looking for solutions, you know, we’re going to have to try to figure some of these out, not just as a school district but as an entire community, um.

00:54:04,500	And I hope that people see that, that we want to continue to, to be the leader in providing really, really good positive things for our kids, both in the classroom and outside. Uh, that’s what I, I mean, just been telling people again and again that we’re all about that.

00:54:17,170	I know we are because I’ve had conversations with all the board members as we’ve addressed some of these things, and I know you are Dr Fosna, so, um, board members, any of their questions or comments, um, Doctors not following this, Mr. Lee. Thank you, President Eastgate. I, I do wanna take this time, uh, especially since all of you were so gracious with your time to show up tonight.

00:54:33,370	Um, cutting fifth grade orchestra wasn’t anything we’ve, we’ve even discussed. Um, Uh, I think it came about because of this leg and uh knowing what the state and federal funding is going to look like that we as a district have been noncommittal to a lot of things, so it’s not, not specific to orchestra, and, uh, what President Eastgate said

00:54:53,770	resonates with me. We’ve always, as a board, been about opportunities for kids and we do recognize the importance, um, you validated that tonight, so your time here, um, means a lot. to us, but, uh, we certainly do appreciate the comments.

00:55:15,370	I want to point out that 85% of our budget, um, at least the last few cycles has been salaries, um, so you’re dealing with, you know, 15% of the budget and trying to meet, uh, so many needs and uh I think, you know, again, President Eastgate is spot on.

00:55:32,730	We don’t want to do less with less, and we’ve been able to hold it off so far, but, um, it feels like we’re getting to kind of a breaking point, especially when you look at the state funding 2 and 2 and then what’s happening federally, it’s tough when you, when you deal with, uh, the number of EL

00:55:46,900	students we do last I heard we speak 87 languages in Bismarck public schools, so, um, let that sink in. We’re, we’re having to and uh I can guarantee you, uh, we don’t have staff in every school that speaks 87 languages.

00:56:05,730	So sometimes, uh, a family of 5 will show up on the doorstep, and we have to um. Be able to communicate, not just with the kids but with the parents, and it’s, it’s not easy.

00:56:24,770	Um, we have a number of needs surrounding mental health and, um, kids that are ED, um, that, that play into disruptive student behaviors that were were trying desperately to get a handle on when so many, uh, state programs and services and actually facilities operate learning center, uh, those types of places that have dried up and gone away. Um, those kids.

00:56:45,100	uh, used to be placed, um, at those, at those, uh, facilities and, uh, now they are not, so they, they come back to our schools every day and we try to deal with them, and I think we do a great job of that, but the, the reality is we’re not equipped as a district to deal with all of the, the issues we see.

00:57:04,370	Um, so at some point, uh, we need help, uh, and hopefully, um, we’ll get that message across. I do think Dr Fost for the great work he does with our legislators and being an advocate for public education um. It’s, we need advocates now more than ever, um, because BPS has always been great.

00:57:23,100	It’s been great because of our people, um, it still is great, um, but we don’t want to see that diminished, so in any case, uh, again, thank you all for being here tonight. Or there’s any other comments.

00:57:45,000	I also just wanted to go back on my thanks to the WDA earlier I mentioned Kerry and Kylie, also Nicole Fitzgerald, those three behind the scenes make a ton happen. I didn’t want to forget anybody there. I think that’s important. So if you, if you know or see any of those three, tell them great job for all the stuff behind the work that doesn’t get the fanfare.

00:57:58,770	So, um, with that, again, thank you for uh board members for being here tonight and going through the entire agenda with us, uh, all