The Williston Public School District 7 Board heard an enrollment report showing growth districtwide and at Lewis and Clark Elementary, where staff said rooms are full and administrators are "panicked" at times about capacity.

Superintendent Dr. Jermanson asked for the enrollment slide during his report and said the district is roughly 3,988 students above last year's count as shown on the presentation; he cautioned that the official Oct. 1 pupil count will formalize state funding changes. "We're 03/1988 students above last year," he said while directing board members to grade-level trend slides.

Lewis and Clark Principal Meredith Johnson described her school as "very full," noting return of some families from homeschooling and new families to the community. She said the school operates with one long-term substitute vacancy but otherwise is "pretty fully staffed" and is relying on PLC (professional learning community) structures, intervention groups and an engagement lab to serve students. "We've started off running," she said.

Board members pressed for class-size benchmarks. Administration said target pupil-teacher guidelines for kindergarten and grade 1 are about 20 to 22 students, second grade about 24 and third and fourth about 25. The district has directed construction of a new elementary school to reduce capacity pressures; administrators told the board that class sizes should normalize after the new school's opening.

Administrators and board members characterized the enrollment spike as a "good problem" but urged continued monitoring of classroom space and staffing. The board did not take formal action on class-size policy at the meeting.

Ending: District staff said they will continue tracking numbers and present follow-ups on staffing and classroom assignments as the Oct. 1 enrollment is finalized and as the new elementary construction proceeds.