Bismarck school board adopts BSR 5 and finds superintendent in compliance

The Bismarck Public School Board on Monday, June 9 held a public reading of BSR 5, the board's superintendent accountability policy, adopted the policy and voted to find the superintendent in compliance.

BSR 5 defines how the board evaluates superintendent performance and sets monitoring methods. President Dan Esquitt read the policy aloud and said the board's evaluation will consider both district results and adherence to operational expectations.

Mrs. Peterson, a board member, moved to retain BSR 5 as the district's superintendent accountability policy; the motion was seconded and approved after a roll-call vote. Later in the meeting, Mr. Hager moved that the board find the district and superintendent 'in compliance' with BSR 5; the motion was seconded and approved by roll call. The board recorded affirmative votes from Mrs. Peterson, Mr. Kresge, Mr. Hager, Mr. Lee and Mr. Eastgate on the compliance determination.

The policy text read at the meeting states: "The board considers superintendent performance to be identical to district performance," and it outlines three monitoring methods (internal report, external review and board inspection), the standards for assessing operational expectations and results policies, an annual November summative evaluation and the board's application of a reasonable-person standard when judging compliance.

Board members did not request further discussion after the public reading and the formal motions. The board's formal adoption of BSR 5 and the compliance finding conclude the scheduled monitoring item for this meeting and set the framework for the superintendent's evaluation work the board will carry out during the year.