Committee hears bill to require statewide assessments of public school buildings

The House Education Committee heard testimony on House Bill 1476, which would require an assessment of all public school buildings in North Dakota and a study of appropriate criteria and standards for those facilities, Representative Anna Novak said.

Novak, the bill sponsor, told the committee that the measure is intended to provide a baseline inventory so lawmakers and local districts can understand deferred maintenance, safety and equity gaps across urban and rural districts. “There is a lot of inequity across the state when it comes to education,” Novak said, describing how smaller districts have fewer course options but sometimes more individualized teacher attention.

Supporters repeatedly told the committee they found widespread deferred maintenance. Josh Johnson, superintendent of Valley City Public Schools and a representative of the School Construction Coalition, said the coalition surveyed districts and found that fewer than half of responding districts reported a recent facility condition assessment. Johnson said Valley City’s first facility assessment in 2018 cost about $10,000, and that re‑estimates of identified projects rose sharply: from about $12 million in the district’s 2018…