District administrators and board members discussed an exploratory lead-teacher program and said a grant-funded team of teachers will travel to a Mesa-area district to study the model.

Assistant superintendent (presenter) said a group of 10 teachers, along with district staff Missy, Bennett Jefferson and Carl Ben, will go to the Mesa area to observe programming. The trip is grant-funded, administrators said.

Nut graf: The lead-teacher model pairs a lead teacher with other adults (paraeducators, student teachers) in the classroom to support instruction, coaching and team teaching; district leaders said other districts have implemented the model at neutral or reduced cost while increasing student achievement and teacher retention.

At the meeting, administrators described the lead-teacher model as one that increases adults’ roles in classrooms so paraeducators lead small groups and teachers rotate to lead subject-area instruction. The lead teacher also coaches peers and may be compensated at a higher rate for additional duties, the presenter said.

The presenter said districts using the model have in some cases reduced unfilled teacher positions, citing a Texas district example where vacancies fell significantly over several years. The Fargo team will share findings after the site visit and discuss potential pilot implementations in Fargo schools.

Ending: The board received the update; no policy or budget decision was made at the meeting.