FARGO, N.D. – Six of the seven candidates running for Fargo School Board shared their vision if elected..
Attorney and incumbent Melissa Burkland responded to North Dakota state assessment scores for Fargo Public Schools showing a proficiency rate of 38% in reading, 41% in math and 35% in science.
“When you’re measuring North Dakota students against a national standard, we are ranked number two in the country on some metrics like math. We are above average across every single metric when you’re looking at reading scores. ND A+ is a rigorous, higher level test that North Dakotans hold themselves to,” Burkland said.
Former teacher and School Board President Katie Christensen Mineer shared why she’s against school vouchers.
“Voucher programs weaken public schools by pulling funding away from the schools responsible for educating every single student. Public schools are accountable to the public, school board members are elected by the community, meetings are open, budgets are public and the community has a voice in the process,” Christensen Mineer said.
Data analyst and incumbent Greg Clark explained his one topic he believes most hinders learning.
“We have abysmal student attendance. Fargo isn’t alone in this, but we have a worse problem than most. We have one in four kids are missing more than 10% of their days and I think kids can’t learn if they’re not in school,” Clark said.
Nonprofit and government consultant Jolene Garty believes another factor needs to be addressed to increase learning potential.
“If you look at any industry who is worried about on an annual basis whether 25% of the folks on your staff in a building are going to turn over makes it really difficult to continue to make progress with student achievement and reaching your goals. I think that is complicated by the budget situation,” Garty said.
Business owner Carissa Geske would like more information on what students are being taught.
“It’s really hard to find what books are they reading, what curriculum. The document that shows the curriculum in line with North Dakota law is very lengthy and really hard to find what are they actually teaching in classrooms. Is phonics being taught? Are the basics being taught?” Geske asked.
North Dakota GOP District 21 Chair Paul Mohror gave his thoughts on mental health in schools.
“Teachers spend a lot of time in their classrooms getting distracted by that one or two difficult students. In that instance maybe having a mental health person pull them out of class so it’s not distracting. How many mental health people do we have to have? At what point does it become we’ve done our part here?” Mohror said.
School Board Vice President Robin Nelson wasn’t able to attend the candidate forum.
Election day is June 9.
