State Representative Bedell Duran met with the Bemidji Public School District board on Oct. 20 to review results from a survey he said he had circulated to local teachers and to discuss legislative priorities that could affect the district.

Duran said the survey returned about 60 responses in five days and identified the top three challenges for educators as student behavior, large class sizes and meeting diverse learning needs; mental health and stress management for students and staff ranked highly as well. "The first question that I asked...And the top 1 was student behavior inside the classroom," Duran told the board.

Duran urged local leaders to coordinate policy priorities with legislators, invited district and teacher leaders to continue meetings and said he would carry feedback back to Saint Paul. He also cited broader fiscal constraints at the state level, saying the state faces a multibillion-dollar shortfall that limits new funding. "We are facing a $6,000,000,000 deficit here," he said.

Board members and administrators responded with specifics about local budget pressure, transportation funding and prior cuts. A board member noted the district cut $1.5 million from the budget last spring and anticipated further cuts; another said the district currently overspends on transportation by about $1.2 million because of geography and how the state's transportation formula allocates dollars.

The meeting included discussion of several state policies that board members said affect local operations. Those included the statutory ban on suspending students in kindergarten through grade three and statewide standardized testing; some speakers urged that state-level policies be revisited with educator input. "If we could just get something out of the next couple of sessions, it sure would could make a difference to us," a board member said.

Duran said he was willing to meet with board members, teachers and local stakeholders and recommended developing a single, united set of local priorities to bring to legislative committees. He offered to provide contact information and to meet in working sessions or by email as the legislative process proceeds.

Board members emphasized the need to keep some decisions local and to seek broad educator input before state changes are enacted. The board noted a prior January meeting with legislators on similar topics and asked Duran to consider conversations with a local principal who had prepared statistics on K–3 suspensions.