Jamestown board approves calendar, budget revisions, fees, cooperative agreement and other items; moves to executive session on wage claim

The Jamestown Public School Board on April 21 approved a series of operational and financial items and moved into an executive session to receive attorney consultation regarding a pending wage claim.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the consent agenda; a gymnastics cooperative agreement with Valley City Public Schools; budget revisions; the 2025-26 fee schedule; a 2025-26 calendar revision that adds professional development days; Medina Public School District’s request for non‑member status to JVCTC; listed personnel resignations; and tuition agreements for the 2025-26 school year for Montpelier and Barnes County North. The board also approved scheduling and notifications for upcoming meetings and events.

The gymnastics cooperative agreement with Valley City Public Schools was moved by Owen McKenna and seconded by Jamie Bear and was adopted by voice vote. The board approved budget revisions (motion by Melissa Gleason, second Jacob Meyer), the 2025-26 fee schedule (motion by Jamie Bear, second Owen McKenna) and a school‑year calendar revision that replaces instructional days with additional professional development time (motion by Jamie Bear, second Owen McKenna). Board members discussed that the calendar change uses statutory allowances that convert instructional days to hours and that the professional development days were chosen to be minimally disruptive.

Other approvals included Medina Public School District’s request for non‑member status to the Jamestown Vocational‑Technical Center (JVCTC) (moved by Jamie Bear, second Jacob Meyer) and approval of listed staff resignations effective at the end of the 2024-25 school year (moved by Melissa Gleason, second Owen McKenna). The board also approved tuition agreements allowing students from Montpelier and Barnes County North to attend Jamestown Public Schools in 2025-26 (motion moved by Melissa Gleason, second Jacob Meyer).

Superintendent Dr. Robert Leck also reported on finance assumptions used during a recent financial retreat: the district modeled two negotiation scenarios, one with 0% across‑the‑board salary increases and one with a 3% increase for all staff classifications. The superintendent said a 3% across‑the‑board increase would represent roughly a $700,000 increase in salary and benefits (the presentation did not change or assume any modification to the district health insurance appropriation). He also briefed the board on state legislative items being tracked, including enacted or pending proposals that could affect district funding.

The board voted to move into executive session to discuss a pending wage claim by Lyra Jones for attorney consultation and negotiating strategy under North Dakota Century Code, citing NDCC 44-04-19.1 and NDCC 44-04-19.2. The executive‑session motion was moved by Owen McKenna and seconded by Melissa Gleason. The board then conducted a roll-call vote to go into executive session; the roll call recorded all present board members as voting yes and the motion carried. The executive session was recorded and attended by board members, Superintendent Dr. Robert Leck, Business Manager Christy Grounds, Adam Gaylor and attorney Rachel Bruner (by telephone). The board announced it would reconvene in open session for any final action.

Ending: The board scheduled a standards‑based learning work session for May 5 at 4:30 p.m., staff negotiations and committee meetings as listed, and public events including Washington Elementary’s open house on May 6 and Jamestown graduation on May 25. Executive‑session deliberations were held under NDCC-provided authority and any final decisions arising from that session must be made in open session unless statute requires otherwise.