(KNOX) – The Grand Forks School District originally planned to complete boundary lines for its school district by March 17, the hope being a better balance among middle-school enrollments.
But Monday’s three-hour meeting disputed the data and urged a longer timeline. Board member Bill Palmiscno spoke on the safety of having more kids being transported north-and-south down busy two-lane roads.
“If you’ve ever went down Belmont Road between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning, it is the worst traffic jam in the whole area because of the cars coming and going,” Palmiscno said.
Board members Sherri Houdek and Amber Flynn said that Grand Forks Air Force Base had not been considered during public surveys, and the data is not clear.
“I believe we have not heard from our students and we have not heard from our communities,” Houdek said.
“I’m concerned that if we continue on this path and we don’t take a hard pivot that we are going to destroy trust with the public and our staff and our families, and that is not OK!” Flynn said.
Superintendent Dr. Terry Brenner concluded that boundary lines are a work in progress and that the current timeline is too short to make final decisions.
Business manager Brandon Baumbach read a prepared statement on the external fraud on August 16, 2024 that left the district short of $2,239,665.59. The IT department froze all ACH payments to outside companies, reported the fraud to the bank and filed a report with Grand Forks Police, the FBI, and filed a claim with insurance.
“Due to the hard work of the authorities, $1,296,935.96 has been recovered,” Baumbach said. “This coupled with $100,000 of Social Engineering insurance coverage culminates in a total loss to date of $842,729.63.”
Baumbach said the dollars are directly related to the building fund mandated for use for construction and building maintenance, not the general fund.
Baumbach says the investigation with Grand Forks Police is ongoing and more money may be recovered, but not in the near-term.
The Grand Forks School Board unanimously approved a quality improvement plan for Head Start training and conduct. The board moved to lease laptops from Apple at 0% interest for certified staff. No payment is required until July 5.
The board moved for school to begin August 27, 2025 and end May 28, 2026. Tentative approval was made for the 2026-2027 school year to begin August 26 and end May 27, 2027.
