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Committee reviews DPI program grants, student information system and school‑blind staffing in long‑sheet discussion
Summary
The Appropriations - Education and Environment Division reviewed Department of Public Instruction program and pass‑through grant recommendations in House Bill 10‑13, including debate over free‑meal funding, student information system plans and a requested assistive‑technology position at the School for the Blind.
The Appropriations - Education and Environment Division spent hours reviewing Department of Public Instruction (DPI) program grants and pass‑through items included in the Department’s long sheets on House Bill 10‑13.
Committee members debated funding sources and whether one‑time grants should be supported by the School Foundation Aid Stabilization Fund, general fund, or other sources. The most visible debate concerned the free‑meals appropriation: the House had increased funding to support meals at 225% of the federal poverty level, but several senators proposed returning the line to the House base level of $4.5 million and discussing a higher rate in conference.
Senate staff and DPI representatives said the paraprofessional‑to‑teacher pipeline—an initiative lawmakers described as successful—should continue and be funded in operations. Several one‑time pilot grants were proposed for removal. The committee left in place programs DPI recommended as ongoing, and asked staff to produce revised long sheets that reflected the committee’s preferred funding sources and amounts.
Kirsten, a DPI official, explained the department’s student information and reporting systems. She said the state currently uses PowerSchool with licensing and hosting provided through the North Dakota Information Technology (NDIT) office, but a 2021 legislative directive and recent work means DPI plans to move to a different student information system and “we will be moving to a different student information system. We will be bringing those things in house not storing on our NDIT server,” she said. DPI staff told the committee the planned migration would change the program grant to an operational expense once the new system is in place beginning in FY2026.
Committee members also discussed a request for an additional FTE at the North Dakota School for the Blind to coordinate assistive‑technology services; the request was described as a $152,000 position in the department’s materials, and several members said they would support adding it to the long sheets. The committee asked staff to update long sheets to reflect the adjustments and to return the updated documents for further review.
No formal vote was taken; members instructed staff to prepare updated funding sheets and fiscal numbers for the next meeting.
