North Bend board revises class-rank policy, schedules changes for class of 2026

The North Bend School District #13 Board of Directors voted Oct. 3 to revise policy IKC on class rankings and graduation speech limits, setting at least one substantive change to take effect with the class of 2026.

Board Chair Jim Jordan introduced the revision and Director Nathan McClintock proposed an amendment to implement "procedure number two" beginning with the class of 2026; Director Carol Yardley seconded. The amendment to implement procedure two passed 6-1, with Director Dallas Petenbrink the lone dissenting vote. Director Michelle Roberts then moved to remove item number nine of the policy, which had limited the number of speakers at graduation; Director Julie Thies seconded and the amendment passed 5-2 (Directors Nathan McClintock and Dallas Petenbrink recorded as voting nay). After those amendments the board voted to approve the amended IKC policy; the transcript records the final approval vote as 7-0.

Resident Isaac Adams addressed the board during public comment to oppose eliminating the Salutatorian designation from IKC and "explained his point of view as to why it should still exist." The public comment occurred before the board's policy action and was heard as the board considered changes to class-rank recognition.

The sequence of amendments means the policy will be applied differently for upcoming graduating classes: the board specifically accepted a timeline to implement one procedural change beginning with the class of 2026. The board did not provide additional implementation detail in the meeting record about how class-rank calculations will change or how the district will notify families. The board recorded all votes on the record during the meeting.