ANNUAL CONVENTION

Mark your calendar for 2012 at the Ramkota Hotel:
October 25 for the School Law Seminar and New Member Seminar
October 26-27 for the Annual Convention

The 2011 NDSBA Annual Convention was held at the Ramkota Hotel in Bismarck on Friday and Saturday, October 28-29. The School Law Seminar and New Member Seminar were held Thursday, October 27, also at the Ramkota.

President Angela Korsmo was re-elected and Jannell Lagein, Rock Lake, was elected Vice President. Kirsten Baesler was re-elected Southwest Director and Roger Pohlman, Grand Forks, was elected to fill the Northeast Director position.

The convention opened with a presentation by North Dakota First Lady Betsy Dalrymple on Imagination Library, a program that helps ensure that children enter kindergarten with a strong ability to read and an eagerness to learn. Dr. David Landswerk followed with a keynote message entitled Take This Job and Love It. He encouraged attendees to create positive change in their own lives and the lives of others.

Saturday's General Session speakers were from Millard, Nebraska. They discussed the tragedy of a school shooting and how their school district and community dealt with the situation and continue the healing process.

Clinic sessions on Friday and Saturday addressed student achievement, board governance, health and safety, policy and legal, and other timely topics of interest. The School Business Managers had specific sessions that provided information of particular interest to their group.

Exhibitors were present on Friday to share expertise on their products and services.

At Friday's Business Session, Gary Thune was honored for his many years of serving as NDSBA's legal counsel since he will be retiring as NDSBA legal counsel in June 2012. The Networking Social immediately following the business session gave attendees an opportunity to visit with Gary and network with each other.

Lucy Meidinger, president of the Ashley School Board, was named as the 2011 recipient of the Barb Norby Scholarship in recognition of her exemplary board service at the local and state level. The award provides registration to the National School Boards Association's Federal Relations Network meeting or Annual Conference.

On Saturday morning, the Delegate Assembly passed the following resolutions:

NEW RESOLUTIONS

PROPERTY TAX INITIATED MEASURE. NDSBA shall oppose efforts to eliminate local property taxation in North Dakota.

CURRICULUM CONTENT. NDSBA shall oppose state or national efforts to further define and mandate specific curriculum content.

FEDERAL IMPACT AID FUNDING. NDSBA shall support full funding by the federal government for federally impacted schools.

RESOLUTIONS READOPTED AS WRITTEN

NON-EDUCATION FUNDS TO PROVIDE FOR SAFETY ISSUES INCLUDING SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS AND HEALTH AND NURSING SERVICES.NDSBA shall seek legislation that commits additional non-education resources to provision of these necessary services so school districts may continue to provide for educational needs of students and receive support necessary to continue these very important non-educational services necessary to ensure safety and health of all students in the state of North Dakota.

K-12 FUNDING ADEQUACY.NDSBA will take a lead role in discussions on what commitment to “adequate funding” requires of the state to meet its obligation to its students.

SALES AND USE TAX EXEMPTIONS OF SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS.NDSBA will support the state making supplies and materials purchased by school districts through contracts with contractors for construction projects exempt from sales and use tax.

REMOVING COMPENSATION FROM NEGOTIATIONS. NDSBA shall support legislation amending the collective bargaining law to exclude compensation.

NINTH GRADE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLING. NDSBA shall seek changes in eligibility for attendance in alternative high school programs contained in Agency Rules 67-16.01 from “students must be from the ages of 16-21” to “students must be at least at 9^th grade level or age 16 and not older than 21.”

RESOLUTIONS READOPTED AS AMENDED

TEACHER NONRENEWAL. NDSBA will seek legislative changes that would provide that any teacher newly hired after August 15 would be excluded from the continuous contract and would be covered by the provisions of NDCC 15.1-15-12(4).

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ASSESSMENTS. NDSBA shall meet with the ND Department of Public Instruction and formally request that they develop and submit to the Department of Education for approval a growth model to measure Adequate Yearly Progress in the state of North Dakota which follows the principles of No Child Left Behind and encourage DPI to offer state assessments in the spring rather than the fall.

PUBLISHING MINUTES. NDSBA will support legislation and seek sponsorship for legislation which would amend the requirements that school boards pay to publish minutes as defined in NDCC 15.1-09-31.

All Standing Resolutions are posted on this Web site.