Nine candidates will be on the June 8 ballot for five positions on the Grand Forks School Board.
Incumbents Greg Krause, Tim Lamb, Bill Palmiscno and Mike St. Onge are running for another four-year term. Challengers Jay Ekren, Becca Grandstrand, Kelly Hogness, Harold Lovelace and Cynthia Shabb are also competing to get on the board.
Superintendent Larry Nybladh said the biggest challenge now facing the school district -- and something new and returning board members will have to deal with -- is declining enrollment and the important decisions that will have to be made because of it.
The district's enrollment dropped to 6,925 during the school year that just ended, a 28 percent decrease from 9,644 in 1993-94. The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction has projected Grand Forks' student numbers will fall to 5,767 by the 2014-15 year.
Nybladh said the board has worked hard to collect data about the district. A public forum in January gathered input from residents, and several district assessments have been completed in the past year.
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"The vision is to attempt to pull all of those pieces of data and information together and engage a process with our community to develop a long-range strategic plan for the district," he said.
Once completed later this year or in early 2011, a strategic plan for the district will be finalized to guide decision-making and goals for the next several years.
"I think ultimately the School Board as elected officials reflects the values of the community," Nybladh said. "The bottom line will be what does our board want to do with this information."
A consultant's report in April suggested, among other things, closing Wilder and West elementary schools as one way of dealing with falling enrollment. It also recommended changing school boundary lines to make sure each school is at its best enrollment.
The board is currently considering four high school construction projects estimated to cost $14.5 million. If approved, the work would result in a complete overhaul of Central High School's auditorium, a renovation of Cushman Field, a new addition built onto Central and a new 700-seat theater at Red River High School.
Nybladh said it's "an important and busy time" for the board, but there's also been a "shift in philosophy" that school officials will need to keep up with in the coming years.
"We also are entering an era where there's new interest from the federal and state levels about what's going on in our local schools," he said.
"What happens in Washington or Bismarck has great implications to Grand Forks," Nybladh added.
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Johnson reports on local K-12 education. Reach him at (701) 780-1105; (800) 477-6572, ext. 105; or send e-mail to rjohnson@gfherald.com .
