Grand Forks School Policy Change

long-standing policy in the Grand Forks School District will soon be gone. The school board voted unanimously last night to drop the early retirement program for teachers at the end of the school year. The policy has been in place for 39 years.

Early retirement was once viewed as a cost-saving program by allowing veteran teachers to be replaced by younger teachers at the lower end of the salary schedule.

Board member Doug Carpenter says he doesn’t agree with a plan that allows the district to incentivize teachers to step down…

Several teachers spoke in favor of the program. Business Manager Scott Berge says Grand Forks is not the first district in the state to drop early retirement. “Grand Forks is the only large school district in the state that has an early retirement policy.”

Just last month the board voted to keep the program in place through the 2022-23 school year.