Submitted Photo Father Jadyn Nelson speaks about Bishop Ryan’s capital campaign during a press conference earlier this week.

Bishop Ryan Catholic School is raising money with a capital campaign focused on teacher salaries, student scholarships, curriculum and technology, and its buildings and grounds.

According to information provided by the school, the campaign has secured pledges worth more than $4 million of its $5.4 million capital campaign goal.

The Bismarck Diocese is supporting the capital campaign through a 50 percent match of every dollar raised, up to $500,000, and of that, $250,000 is still to be claimed. Seventy-five private donors have made pledges.

Some $4 million of the money raised will be designated to reaching a goal of matching the projected base salary of area public school instructors within four years. This will help the Catholic schools hang on to instructors and keep them from leaving for higher-paid positions.

Another $500,000 will be used to increase Ryan’s student scholarship endowment and help families pay tuition.

Another $600,000 will be used to pay for support and tools they need to achieve optimum success.

Another $300,000 will be earmarked to manage the physical campus of Bishop Ryan, maintain and improve the state of the grounds, current safety measures, and an emergency maintenance fund.

“Catholic education done well uniquely forms its students to live full and meaning lives,”said Father Jadyn Nelson, Bishop Ryan Catholic School President. “Today we are celebrating a milestone in our commitment to put all the pieces in place to ensure thatthis kind of educational experience can exist here at Bishop Ryan well into the future.” He added, “The mostimportant piece to successfully achieving the goals of our strategic plan is what we celebrate today: to invest in our teachers, so that the highly competent, mission-driven men and women who choose to teach at Bishop Ryan can afford to dedicate their careers to the mission of Catholic education.With the success ofthis campaign, we project that within five years we will be able to raise our salary schedule to a level that our base pay is on par with surrounding public schools.”