The West Fargo School Board has big decisions to make in coming months on the district's budget and how much school space to build to handle enrollment growth.
To keep the full board up to speed on the planning, policy and budgetary issues that are normally divvied up among its members in subcommittees, the board has agreed to hold some of its meetings as a "Committee Of the Whole," which means that if a majority of the board is in attendance, the board could conduct district business.
"It keeps people in the loop," said superintendent Dana Diesel Wallace, who added that all the board members can get the most updated information available and weigh in on issues early.
"It gets their minds working on the problems," she said.
The first of such meetings will be 7 a.m. Tuesday in the boardroom at the Leidal Education Center, 207 Main Ave. W.
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Green battles
Fledgling environmentalists will duke it out May 14 at the Minnesota State Envirothon, a competition for high school students eager to test their knowledge of all things "green."
The standoff will be at the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center in Fergus Falls.
About 150 students from the state, including a team from Breckenridge High School, will compete by taking exams and giving an oral presentation.
The winning team will represent Minnesota in the Canon Envirothon, July 28 to Aug. 3 at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
Choice recognition
Minnesota ranked fifth in school choice options in a "Choice and Education Across the States" report by The Heartland Institute, a non-partisan conservative research nonprofit based in Chicago.
Minnesota ranked second in the nation for the number of charter school programs. The state now features 143 charter schools, state-funded schools that operate free from most state and district regulations.
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Minnesota also ranked first in tax credit programs for education and scored points for its open enrollment and magnet school choices.
Fixin' to win
A team from Fargo South High School will compete in the state Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition on May 8 in West Fargo.
The competition will be at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds. It tests the students' automotive knowledge and technical skills by having them race the clock to identify and fix intentionally installed bugs on identical vehicles.
Twenty juniors and seniors from eight schools will take part. The other teams come from Bismarck Technical Center; Red River High School, Grand Forks (two teams); Mandan High School; Magic City Campus, Minot; Sheyenne Valley Career and Technology Center, Valley City; Southeast Regional Career and Technology Center, Wahpeton (two teams); and Williston High School.
The winning team members receive scholarships and prizes and will represent North Dakota at the National Finals at Ford Headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., on June 24.
Readers can reach Forum reporters Helmut Schmidt at (701) 241-5583
and Mila Koumpilova at (701) 241-5529
