‘I just don’t see the savings’

The gym at Bell Elementary was filled to the brim Tuesday evening as the local community, families, students and staff took advantage of the opportunity to make their case to the Minot Public School board to not close the school.

The closure of Bell and McKinley elementary schools has been a subject of discussion at recent board meetings as the district contends with a budget deficit.

Emotions ran high during Tuesday's two-and-half-hour long meeting, as numerous individuals shared what the school provides to students, their families, staff and the surrounding community.

Several current and former Bell students stepped up to the podium themselves, including Brielle Hanson, who completed K-5 at the school.

"I just can't believe that we are talking about this today. I'm really sad. I know this school is small. I just love it so much," Hanson said.

One parent, Dan Mostad, questioned previously reported enrollment increases in the district, saying he thought it was "mind boggling" that the 100-student decline could push the district into closing two schools.

"I'm a general manager of a business, a local co-op. Looking at the costs of running this building and the distribution of staff, I just don't see the savings," Mostad said. "My daughter and son are fourth generation at Bell school. My family donated the land the school sits on. It would be very hard to see it go away."

Many other speakers also questioned the possible cost savings that would be achieved by closing the schools, with one parent asking for a more precise breakdown for addressing the rest of the $6.63 million deficit that would remain even after the schools are closed. A number of parents expressed that if the board follows through on the closures, they would transfer to other surrounding school districts such as Velva, Nedrose, Surrey and Des Lacs-Burlington. Other statements implied some landowners in the district were considering pursuing transfer of their properties into another district if the school is closed, which would further exacerbate the budget issue.

"I think it’s very clear that Bell Elementary is very much a community. If this school ceases to exist, I think there’s going to be a lot more than 20 kids who will not remain in the Minot Public district. It's not going to help your numbers," said parent Marie Halden.

Halden and other parents also shared that recent improvements to the school, such as carpeting and central air in all six classrooms, were funded through the fundraising efforts of the school's Parent Teacher Organization without assistance from the district. Another common theme throughout the public input was the benefits that all students and even the teachers themselves gain from the smaller class sizes at the school, especially those students affected by autism spectrum disorder and anxiety.

"We moved here in June and July of 2022, and we specifically bought land out here so my son and his brothers could go here. In a bigger school, he will not thrive," said Alexandria Loriano. "In this school here, the children are thriving. In smaller classrooms teachers are a little more hands on and have more time to devote to them. This is not fair to our children. This is not fair to the faculty. Just please try to think of the children."

Superintendent Mark Vollmer noted at the beginning of the meeting that when Bell first joined the MPS district in 2014 the enrollment was 137 students, but it has been steadily declining in the last 10 years. The total projected enrollment at Bell for the 2024-2025 school year stands at 71 students. Vollmer also clarified that no decision would be made at the regular board meeting scheduled for Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at the Minot Area Workforce Academy.

Elementary Assistant Superintendent Bryn Iverson provided a similar breakdown of possible options being considered, which included the same options presented at the meeting at McKinley Elementary on Monday. Iverson assured those assembled that students from Bell would have bussing made available to them regardless of the choice. Students from Bell would also maintain their current feeder school if the district follows through on realignment. The presentation provided by Iverson at both meetings can be accessed on the district's website.

The board will be providing answers to the questions posed at the meeting in a document to be released today. The board will discuss the feedback from the school meetings at Thursday's meeting.