Grand Forks School Board hears report on partnership with UND to attract, retain highly effective teachers
Oct. 23—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks School Board on Monday heard a detailed report about the partnership between the school district and UND that allows teachers to earn a graduate degree in 13 specialty areas, thus addressing the need to attract and retain highly effective teachers in the public school system.
Laura Link and Joel Schleicher, members of the UND College of Education and Human Development, described the five-semester program, which was launched in August with 16 Grand Forks Public School teachers. Participants, who receive some tuition support, commit to remaining on staff for three years after earning a Master of Science in Teaching and Leadership.
The 13 specialty areas include: principalship, instructional coaching, early childhood and elementary education, behavioral supports in special education, and secondary math, biology, chemistry and physics education.
The program "is not just a path to leadership to the principal role, but also to teacher leadership roles," Link told the board. It is not only a means "to attract highly effective teachers to our district, but to keep them in our district."
It also allows for "stacked credentials," whereby participants may also earn the master's degree and Mastery Learning graduate certificates together. Such a program is the first of its kind in the state, Link said.
The program, a blend of in-person and online classes, is "tailor-made" for Grand Forks Public School District teachers who are interested in seeking an advanced degree, Superintendent Terry Brenner said in a memo to School Board members.
The first group of teachers includes one first-year teacher and another with 16 years of teaching experience, Brenner said.
Although several discussions concerning a partnership between GFPS and UND have occurred in the past, he said, this is the first time a collaboration of this type has been formulated. "I hope this is the beginning of a long-term relationship," Brenner said.
The percentage of North Dakotans, ages 25 years and older, who hold advanced degrees is far below the national average, Link said. According to a 2021 American Community Survey, 6.4% hold a master's degree and 1.1 have earned a doctoral degree.
In other business, the board learned that, while the district has been coping with a shortage of bus drivers, it has been able to fill all routes, "but without much margin for error," said Brandon Baumbach, the district's business manager, noting the pressure on the system if a driver gets sick and cannot work.
Student transportation is being newly provided by Valley Bus Company this year, but at times the level of service is lower than the district, students and parents expect, Baumbach said.
The district has been working with Cities Area Transit to bring on more drivers and is offering to pay for CDL training for any school district employee willing to drive.
Board member Eric Lunn suggested that the driver shortage is "not a Grand Forks issue and not just a North Dakota issue — it's all over the country" and affects many occupations and professions.
"Are we not keeping up with compensation — is that an issue or not?" Lunn said.
Drivers with CDL certification earn $45 to $60 an hour, board member Cynthia Shabb said. "(That's) hard to beat."
Bus rides for some children can run as long as 50 to 90 minutes, Shabb said, even for 1.8-mile rides.
During Monday's regular meeting, the board also:
* Received an update on the Head Start program that is preparing 154 preK children in 11 classrooms through the district, but dealt with a 10% absentee rate among staff last year.
* Approved the resignation of Jeff Welsh, a teacher who is on a long-term leave of absence from the district; he would then be permitted to apply for a position as a part-time wrestling coach and is interested in substitute teaching, Brenner said.
* Approved the resignation of Maura Ferguson, a social worker with the Head Start program, with a 5% penalty under the condition that a social worker replacement can be found, hired and successfully onboarded. There are three applicants for this position, Brenner said. The policy regarding the penalty for resigning while under contract was adopted, in part, due to the number of contracted teachers who resigned before the end of the 2022-23 school year, thus breaking their contracts, Shabb said. These actions created a burden on the district, most notably on the teaching and learning process and in hard-to-fill positions, in the present workforce-shortage environment, Brenner said.
