North Dakota

State commission to mediate dispute between teachers union and school board in Mapleton

Published

8 months ago

May 21, 2025

State commission to mediate dispute between teachers union and school board in Mapleton

MAPLETON, N.D. — A state mediation team will hear a dispute over teacher contracts between the teachers union and school board for the Mapleton Public School District.

The North Dakota Education Fact Finding Commission will hold a public hearing at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, at the elementary school at 300 First St. in Mapleton, which is located halfway between West Fargo and Casselton.

Students, teachers, school employees and interested citizens are invited to attend and speak.

Mapleton Education Association President Jennifer Helland said the teachers union and school board are at an impasse over teacher salaries for the 2025-2027 contract.

“As required by Century Code, the fact-finding commission is then notified and they step in to assist us to hopefully come to the last, best proposals that we can agree on,” she said.

The school board is proposing a district-wide salary freeze due to financial difficulties, while the teachers union maintains a 3% cost-of-living increase is required under the teacher contract.

Helland said the teacher contract has a “maintenance of standards” clause that guarantees such an increase each negotiating cycle, as a way of attracting and retaining teachers.

“When the board came to us with a freeze, not only was their last offer regressive in terms of their offerings, it doesn’t uphold that maintenance of standards,” Helland said.

Josh Radcliffe, president of the Mapleton School Board, said everything in the contract, including that clause, is up for negotiation if one party brings it to the table.

“You can’t decide something today and expect it to hold true for the rest of forever,” he said.

The Mapleton Public School offers kindergarten through sixth grade, with students in upper grades attending school in either Casselton or West Fargo.

When the current building was constructed and opened in 2017, there were approximately 90 students; now, enrollment has jumped to about 240 students, Radcliffe said.

The district’s financial difficulties date back seven or eight years, he said, to mistakes made by a then-business manager.

While payroll taxes were taken out of employee checks, they were not paid to the state of North Dakota or to the Internal Revenue Service, Radcliffe said, and it’s taken years to climb out of the hole.

“We’re not in a good financial situation. Not extremely bad, but it’s not where we feel comfortable,” Radcliffe said.

The proposed pay freeze applies to all staff, including teachers, the superintendent, business manager, cooks, secretaries, paraprofessionals, bus drivers and janitors. The board also decided not to take pay for at least the next year, Radcliffe said.

Staff cuts were considered but met with opposition. The board has also discussed cutting its preschool program or sixth grade from the school, he said, because the district doesn’t have the funds.

Helland hopes members of the community will come to the hearing Tuesday.

“Having them come to support us as educators and their children in classrooms, and knowing that if things come to pass, where changes are made and class sizes grow … we want their voices to be heard,” she said.

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North Dakota

Bankruptcies for North Dakota and western Minnesota published Jan. 10, 2026

Published

34 minutes ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court

North Dakota

Kaitlyn Grace Lucier, Fargo, Chapter 7

Samuel Todd Hicks, formerly known as Thomas Samuel Hicks, Fargo, Chapter 7

Teresa and Dominik Renwick, Fargo, Chapter 13

Susan Renee Fuller, formerly known as Susan R. Schaffer, doing business as Susie’s Sparkling Cleaning Service, Fargo, Chapter 7

Shannon Lynn Taylor, Fargo, Chapter 7

Jesse Patrick and Jaime Elizabeth Brown, Williston, Chapter 7

Kerri Lee Weishaar, Minot, Chapter 7

Terry Marie Moritz, Valley City, Chapter 7

Joshua Allen Sewill, Hatton, Chapter 7

Bryan Eugene Flecker, Minot, Chapter 7

Anna Marie Rahm, formerly known as Anna Marie Tanner, and Joshua Edward Rahm, Bismarck, Chapter 13

Sherri Rae Fisher, Baldwin, Chapter 13

Heather Lynn McElroy, formerly known as Heather Anderson, Grand Forks, Chapter 7

Kaitlyn Autrey, Grand Forks, Chapter 7

Michelle Lynn Miller, Fargo, Chapter 13

Kimberly Georgeann Callahan, Fargo, Chapter 13

Erin Elaine and Jose Luiz Murphy, Bismarck, Chapter 7

Shelly and Kieth Quimby, St. Thomas, Chapter 7

Minnesota

Bankruptcy filings from the following counties: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail, Polk, Traverse, Wadena and Wilkin.

David Howard Gilpin, Osakis, Chapter 7

Timothy Virgil Hoag, Moorhead, Chapter 7

Jason Darryl Dykhoff, Ottertail, Chapter 7

Zachary Nicholas Hodgson and Jolynn Beth Warnes, formerly known as Jolynn Beth Hodgson, Kensington, Chapter 7

Riley Matthew Hinman, Alexandria, Chapter 7

Layne Christopher Condiff, Park Rapids, Chapter 13

Thomas Beecher Hoyer, Menahga, Chapter 13

Christine Karen Jakubek, also known as Cristine Anderson, Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is a petition to liquidate assets and discharge debts.

Chapter 11 is a petition for protection from creditors and to reorganize.

Chapter 12 is a petition for family farmers to reorganize.

Chapter 13 is a petition for wage earners to readjust debts.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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North Dakota

Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND

Published

13 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – On Friday, North Dakota U.S. Senator John Hoeven, Governor Kelly Armstrong and Health and Human Services Commissioner Pat Traynor explained how the state plans to use millions of dollars from the Big Beautiful Bill’s Rural Health Transformation Fund to transform healthcare across the state.

They spoke extensively about the special session to allocate the funds, and confirmed that it is still tentatively set for Jan. 21.

The Big Beautiful Bill allocated $25 billion for rural healthcare nationwide. North Dakota received $500 million for five years and $200 million for the first year. There is still another $25 billion left to be spent, and North Dakota is hoping to receive an extra $500 million.

“I truly believe that with the plan we’re putting in place and the things we built that line up with that, we’ll get a billion dollars over five years,” said Hoeven.

Federal rules require the state to lock in contracts for the money by October first— a deadline officials say is driving the need for a special session.

In the first year, North Dakota will focus on retention grants to keep existing staff, technical assistance and consultants for rural hospitals, as well as telehealth equipment and home patient monitoring.

A KFYR+ exclusive

Governor Armstrong says the special session will include policy bills tied to how much federal rural health funding the state can earn.

“We’re going to have a physical fitness test for physical education courses, nutrition education, continuing education requirement for physicians, physician assistant licensure compact—which North Dakota has been doing, dealing with that since the heart of the oil boom and moving forward—and then an expanded scope of practice for pharmacists,” said Armstrong.

Hundreds of millions of dollars could reshape healthcare in rural North Dakota, and state leaders say the next few weeks are key to receiving and spending that money wisely.

The governor says he only wants to focus on bills related to the Rural Health Transformation Program during the special session and doesn’t intend to deal with other state issues during that time.

Politicians outline plans for ND Rural Health Transformation Program

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North Dakota

North Dakota officials celebrate being among big winners in federal rural health funding

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

North Dakota officials celebrate being among big winners in federal rural health funding

North Dakota U.S. Sen. John Hoeven and Gov. Kelly Armstrong on Friday touted the success of the state’s application for federal Rural Health Transformation Program funding, which landed one of the largest per-capita awards in the nation.

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