Fargo Public Schools lays out multi-pronged plan to boost belonging, tighten attendance tracking and standardize behavior reporting

Fargo Public Schools officials told the Fargo Board of Education that the district’s Strategic Initiative 2 — focused on positive school culture and safety — is showing early signs of improvement in student belonging while district leaders also flagged continuing concerns about behavior-reporting consistency and post‑pandemic attendance declines.

The district’s presentation, given to the board by Dr. Saar and other staff, emphasized that belonging rose by eight percentage points between the two most recent spring surveys. Dr. Saar said district work on school improvement plans and a new, broader belonging survey were intended to move the metric beyond a single-question snapshot "because a student or a staff member's sense of belonging is so much more than just a single question." He added, "Belonging really is this equation of peer connections, positive relationships with adults, and [an] inclusive school environment."

Nut graf: The update matters because the district tied belonging, behavior and attendance together as interlocking priorities. Officials said better, more consistent behavior reporting and earlier…