House Education Committee backs bill letting K‑12 coordination council hire researchers, approves $120,000 appropriation

Senate Bill 2262, which would authorize the North Dakota K‑12 Coordination Council to enter contracts for outside studies and provides a $120,000 appropriation, received a due‑pass recommendation from the House Education Committee and was re‑referred to the Appropriations Committee after a unanimous voice roll call.

Supporters told the committee the change clarifies the council’s authority to hire consultants for studies that exceed the council’s internal capacity. Senator Ryan Brownberger, who introduced the bill on behalf of the K‑12 Coordination Council, said the request is intended to let the council “enter into contracts with researchers to do studies” that are too large for members or small subcommittees to handle.

The bill matters because the council meets to identify duplication, replication and areas for innovation across agencies that serve public education; without explicit contracting authority and an appropriation, proponents said, large technical studies can stall. "We recognized how massive [special education] is, and we had no structure, no authority to be able to contract with someone to help us work through that," Luke Schafer, chair of the K‑12 Coordination Council and CEO of Central Regional Education Association, told members.

Schafer said the requested funding is primarily to buy the council time and outside expertise when issues are too large for the 19‑member council or small subcommittees to resolve. Asked whether $120,000 is adequate, he said, "It's better than 0," and acknowledged it would limit the number of studies the council could commission. Mark Falmer, executive director of the K‑12 Coordination Council, told the committee the council’s preference had been $250,000 but that $120,000 would “get us started.” He said any use of funds would require a council vote and that the council would prioritize internal resources and Department of Public Instruction assistance where possible.

Committee members asked implementation questions about procurement and budget relationships. Falmer and Schafer confirmed the council’s separate appropriation is distinct from the superintendent’s budget, and Rebecca Pollard in the Department of Public Instruction was cited as the DPI procurement contact; Falmer said contracting would follow standard DPI procurement rules. Representative Schreiberbeck pressed on the amount and on an amendment reducing the request to $120,000; Schafer repeated that a larger appropriation would permit more studies but the reduced amount still allows some work.

Representative Novak moved a due‑pass recommendation with referral to Appropriations; Representative Jonas seconded. The committee took a roll call; the clerk recorded 14 yes votes and no no votes. Committee leadership indicated Representative Novak will carry the bill forward.

The bill’s text grants authority for the K‑12 Coordination Council to contract for studies and includes the appropriation language; supporters emphasized the council’s role in vetting ideas before they reach the Legislature and said the authority would strengthen that function.

Supporters said likely topics for contracted work include special education and other large, technical policy areas where the council needs third‑party analysis or evaluation. No formal opposition testimony was recorded at the hearing.

A next step is committee consideration in Appropriations; the committee vote sends the bill with a recommendation to that committee for fiscal review and potential appropriation adjustments.