Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Online Course Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenter asks board to restore district coverage of NDCDE online course fees for equity reasons
Summary
A member of the public asked the board to reconsider a district decision to stop covering student fees for North Dakota Center for Distance Education (NDCDE) courses, arguing the change shifts costs to families and may reduce access for lower-income students.
A Grand Forks resident urged the school board on May 27 to reverse an administrative decision to stop covering student costs for North Dakota Center for Distance Education (NDCDE) courses, saying the change would make online courses less available to economically challenged students.
Kevin Kuntz addressed the board during the public comment period, saying the district had previously covered an average NDCDE cost of about $229 per semester course and that a recent email signed by "Drs. Chris Arison and Catherine Galach" stated the legislature had shifted responsibility for course costs to families. Kuntz cited House Bill 1105 and argued the statute requires the district to pay for NDCDE when the district does not offer a course that is required for graduation, but does not forbid a district from covering additional NDCDE courses.
"It appears a decision has been made by some administrative level within the district to pass costs along to families," Kuntz said, and he asked the board to take up the issue and resolve to cover NDCDE online courses at the same level as the prior two academic years, citing equity concerns tied to boundary and socioeconomic issues in class offerings.
The board did not respond during public comment; the district indicated staff would follow up with commenters at an appropriate time, consistent with the meeting's public-comment ground rules.
