North Dakota
School leaders oppose bill putting superintendent in charge of districts' compliance with ND state law
BISMARCK — A bill that would task the North Dakota state superintendent with ensuring all school districts comply with education-related state laws had a hearing at the state Capitol.
Testimony on Senate Bill 2104, sponsored by Republican Sen. Todd Beard of Williston, was heard by the Senate Education committee on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
It would impose a 2% reduction in state aid payments on a school district if the state superintendent had to issue “guidance” for non-compliance more than once.
The bill was brought, in part, because of Fargo Public Schools Supt. Rupak Gandhi’s defiant stance in May 2023 regarding a
law pertaining to transgender K-12 students and which bathroom they could use.
At that school board meeting,
Gandhi said his administration would make decisions regarding transgender students that may not be interpreted as being in accordance with the state law. He said the state law might even violate federal laws.
“We’re going to do what’s right for our kids and when we see a conflict between federal law and state law, we’re going to double down to advocate for our youth,” Gandhi said at the time.
Mark Jorritsma, executive director of North Dakota Family Alliance Legislative Action, spoke in favor of the bill and used Gandhi’s stance in 2023 as an example of why the law is needed.
“Their school board took a vote and decided to openly defy a law of the state of North Dakota. What was the consequence? None,” Jorritsma said.
Committee member and Sen. Josh Boschee, a Democrat from Fargo, was quick to correct that statement.
“There was not a vote. It was a public conversation,” Boschee said.
While several Fargo school board members spoke in support of Gandhi’s stance at that May 2023 meeting, no official action was taken by the board.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Beard said citizens risk a penalty for not following state laws; therefore government entities, including public schools, should face the same.
Jeff Fastnacht, superintendent of Bismarck Public Schools who testified in opposition to SB 2104, said a 2% penalty would result in a loss of $2.5 million to his district.
“Now that may seem like a great way to get the superintendent’s attention … but I can assure you, a phone call or a visit with Jeff would do the same,” Fastnacht said.
A 2% reduction in state aid to Fargo Public Schools in a similar scenario would mean a loss of $2.1 million to the district, Communications Officer AnnMarie Campbell told The Forum.
Besides Fastnacht, leaders of several other education-related organizations testified against SB 2104.
Mike Heilman, executive director of North Dakota Small Organized Schools, said financial penalties could be devastating to school districts, resulting in teacher reductions.
Schools already have processes and procedures in place to address complaints about non-compliance, he said.
Amy De Kok, executive director of the North Dakota School Boards Association, said there are no means in the bill to prevent frivolous or politically motivated complaints.
“School districts could be subjected to undue investigation, wasting administrative time and resources,” she said.
Kirsten Baesler, superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction, offered “neutral” testimony, but said the bill would be “challenging and misaligned with our shared principles of limited government, conservative policy making and fiscal responsibility.”
If passed into law, the bill would require DPI to write and enforce new guidance that in effect, acts as law, she said.
Employees of the department are education professionals, she added, not investigators.
“The proposed requirement to conduct investigations, as outlined in the bill, is outside our professional capabilities,” Baesler said.
Instead, she said the state’s law enforcement agencies would be better equipped to handle such matters, including the offices of county state’s attorneys and the Attorney General.
FARGO — Drivers can expect to see a slight uptick in gas prices as a result of the Iran conflict.
As of Monday, March 2, the average for North Dakota is $2.65 a gallon. While that is a $0.13 increase from a month ago, it is significantly lower than prices a year ago.
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GRAND FORKS – The Study ND, formerly Humanities North Dakota, has received $15,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts for a statewide theater and humanities initiative in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
This commemorative investment is meant to bring historical events and figures – such as the framers of the U.S. Constitution – to life through virtual and live performances that celebrate the nation’s history.
The grant, along with funding from private sources, has made it possible for The Study ND to host “America 250” activities after the organization sustained a considerable cut in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities last year, according to Brenna Gerhardt, The Study ND executive director.
“We absorbed a 50% budget cut, resulting in a loss of $467,645 in funding,” Gerhardt said. “As a result, we had to significantly scale back our American 250 initiatives focused on American history and civics education.”
Funds received from the National Endowment for the Arts will be used to present public readings, theatrical portrayals and guided discussions to encourage audience members to reflect on the nation’s founding in 1776 and on its democratic ideals, while engaging in contemporary conversations about civic life.
All of the programming in the series organized by The Study ND, titled “American Heroes,” will be livestreamed statewide.
In the grant application submitted to the National Endowment for the Arts, “we framed the project around a simple idea: democracy requires more than information, it requires citizens who can think historically, listen well, and argue in good faith,” Gerhardt said.
“This series uses living history performances to bring consequential figures into the room, then turns the room into a civic space through moderated dialogue and related public events. We define ‘heroism’ as civic courage under pressure, the willingness to contend with hard truths, and the capacity to enlarge a community’s moral imagination,” she said.
“The project does not ask audiences to agree on a single interpretation of a figure. It invites them to grapple with complexity together, and to connect the past to the responsibilities of the present.”
When Gerhardt and her colleagues received the application for grant proposals from the National Endowment for the Arts, “we were already planning a line-up of America 250 events and it fit perfectly with what we were already planning, so then we just wrote the grant,” she said.
Private funds, including matching funds from the Bismarck-based Tom and Frances Leach Foundation, have also been provided for this project.
Details about all the events will probably be posted on the website
www.TheStudyND.org
in March, Gerhardt said.
The America 250 events, which are planned to take place at Bismarck State College, are 5-6 p.m. July 8, “Reading of the Declaration of Independence, with John Adams,” and 6-7:30 p.m. July 9, “Alexander Hamilton Speaks,” both performed by William Chrystal.
The Living History programs are planned for 7-8:15 p.m. Sept. 17, “Thomas Paine,” performed by Doug Mishler, and Oct. 6, 7-8:15 p.m, “Frederick Douglass,” performed by Nathan Richardson. Both will be moderated by Susan Frontczak.
The performers Chrystal and Richardson live in Virginia, Frontczak in Colorado,and Mishler in Nevada.
Another program, “Hemingway and Gellhorn,” is set for Sept. 16-18 at Bismarck State College, Gerhardt said. “It is part of our broader Chautauqua/living history programming connected to America 250 … (and) will feature performances and discussion centered on Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, using their lives and writing as a way to explore major questions about American identity, war reporting, public memory, and the stories we tell about freedom, conflict and responsibility.
“What I am excited about with this event is that it gives us a way to approach America 250 beyond founding-era material. In other words, it helps us show the American story is not just about 1776, but also about the generations that followed and how Americans wrestled with democracy, power, truth and moral courage.”
This program “expands the initiative beyond commemoration into reflection, dialogue and interpretation, which is where the humanities are especially valuable,” she said. “It helps us reach audiences who may be drawn in through literature, journalism and performance, not only traditional history events.”
The Hemingway and Gellhorn program fits in with America 250 in that “it broadens the frame and adds depth to the larger effort.”
Gerhardt is hoping that these activities will give participants “a better understanding of all the debates and issues going on when our country was founded, and how those debates are continuing today,” she said, “and just to be more thoughtful and informed citizens.”
College students and members of the general public will also be invited to participate in a workshop aimed at teaching participants how to build a living history performance from primary sources and historical research.
Last year, The Study ND lost a substantial amount of funding – nearly $468,000, about half of its annual budget – from the National Endowment for the Humanities for its fiscal 2025 year.
The loss of that much funding was discouraging, Gerhardt said. “Very much so, because we had a lot of activities planned for America 250 and we had to cancel a lot of them, or – like in this case – seek other funding, which we were lucky to get.”
The Study ND currently has four full-time employees, she said. “We eliminated a part-time marketing position after the cuts.”
A nonprofit organization, The Study ND provides civics, arts and cultural education programming. The organization’s programs – which include online classes, book talks, lectures and more – reached about 24,000 people in 2024, Gerhardt told the North Dakota Monitor in April 2025.
During the summer, the organization hosts a civics education program for high school and middle school social studies teachers, she said.
On this day in 1943, two North Dakota army officers, Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz and First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson, were killed in separate medium bomber training crashes in Florida and Georgia.
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:
Army Plane Crashes Kill Two N. D. Men
Two North Dakota officers in the army air forces were killed Sunday in bomber crashes during training flights, Associated Press dispatches revealed Monday.
Second Lieut. Arthur B. Kuntz of Harvey (Wells county) was killed with 10 others from the Avon Park, Fla., army bomber base when two medium bombers collided during a routine formation flight. Both planes crashed and there were no survivors.
First Lieut. Bernard A. Anderson of Warwick (Benson county) was one of six killed when a medium bomber from MacDill field, Tampa, Fla., crashed near Savannah, Ga. Lieutenant Anderson was co-pilot of the plane.
None of the other victims of either accident was from the Dakotas or Minnesota.
Lieutenant Kuntz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kuntz of Harvey, was graduated from the army air force navigation school at Hondo, Texas, as a second lieutenant last October, and received his wings as a navigator.
Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.
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