School board president Mitch Kraft is seeking another term, while Matt Bianco is running for the first time. They are unopposed in the election.

Bianco is a 24-year veteran of the United States Air Force who moved to Minot in 2013. Now retired, he works for a contractor with the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base. He holds a Master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Dakota.

Bianco has a son who will be a senior this fall at Minot High. His daughter previously graduated, and his wife, a teacher at Sunnyside Elementary, also has two sons who completed their education in the Minot school district.

Bianco said Minot schools are doing a good job overall.

Matt Bianco

“The education has been quality,” he said. “We’re developing our students to be contributing members of society and do good things in life.”

He also agrees with the school board’s new policy that restricts cell phones in classrooms and believes the district may need to address artificial intelligence (AI) next to avoid concerns and ensure students can use it successfully.

Bianco said as a newcomer, he would expect to have lots to learn but he also has ideas he would like to implement. But foremost, he wants to help tackle the budget and keep property taxes down, he said.

“I’ll do my part to help balance the budget and be good stewards of our public’s money. I think as long as we’re applying the funds to the areas that best benefit our students and educators, we’re winning. I feel like teacher compensation is a very important matter, and I would like to ensure we’re providing them pay and benefits that they deserve but also that motivates them to stay in our district. One of the things I see, definitely, over the next four years as an emerging issue is teacher retention,” he said.

Bianco added he would like to look at the district’s process for new curriculum and programs to ensure teachers and staff have the necessary time, training and tools needed to transition smoothly. He also wants to ensure teachers have opportunities for professional development that not only are necessary for them but also work best with Minot’s curriculum and students’ educational needs. Although standardized tests aren’t always the most accurate measure of student growth, it is a tool, and the district needs to make sure the curriculum is driving tests score improvements, he said.

A primary initiative he would undertake is improving communication between the board and educators.

“I want to visit the schools. I want to talk to the teachers. I want to experience what they experience throughout the day. I want to see the good and the bad,” Bianco said. “Overall, my vision is to have a collaborative relationship with our teachers so that we’re on the same page, we’re focusing our efforts in the right area and we’re building a path to student success together.”

In the same vein, communication with parents in the district could be stronger, he said. A Facebook page alone isn’t the answer, he said.

Bianco said enforcement of boundary lines for determining the schools where students enroll is an area that needs attention. Students have ended up in schools outside their residential boundaries, and trying to get back into the correctly assigned school isn’t a simple process, he said.

“I would like to see if we can improve those processes and make sure everybody’s going to school where they’re supposed to be going,” he said.

Kraft has served on the school board from 2016-2020 and again since 2022. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in management from Minot State University. He has been active in the community, including as past president of the Minot Association of Builders and past president of the Minot Swim Club.

His priorities over the next four years would be to address school maintenance needs, with a possible public vote on a building fund, along with increasing teacher salaries.

Kraft said he was pleased during this year’s staff negotiations to be able to turn district health insurance premium savings into higher wages for teachers, without making any of the staffing cuts that some other larger districts in the state have been discussing.

However, he noted the district faces a $50 million construction estimate on Central Campus to get the building partially up to standards.

“That’s a lot of money. Do we look at going to the people and putting a building fund on a ballot so that we can take care of a lot of the maintenance on that side versus out of our general fund? What does that look like? Would we have this city’s support behind that?” he said.

If there is support from patrons, the next question is whether the money should go into Central Campus or whether that building should be vacated in favor of expanding Jim Hill and Erik Ramstad to accommodate the district’s middle school students, he said.

After Central Campus, the next highest maintenance bills are nearly $15 million at Minot High and $7.7 million at Roosevelt Elementary, Kraft said. He added the estimates are low numbers compared to anticipated actual costs.

There’s also uncertainties around the statewide vote in November on free student lunches and how that might impact legislative funding for per-pupil aid. Additionally, there are uncertainties over other education funding decisions of the 2027 Legislature, which increase the challenges with local budgeting, Kraft said.

Kraft said he expects this to be his final run for school board.

“I still am a firm believer that school board members should have children in Minot Public so that they can have an active role in their education,” he said. “That’s why I ran that first time in 2016 is because no one on the board at that time had kids in school.”

His youngest child will be a junior in high school this fall.

“In the next term, I will not run again because she will be done with school. I would want someone else to take that position,” he said.

Nedrose, South Prairie hold school board elections

Minot and area residents in Nedrose and South Prairie School Districts will have school board races on their June 9 ballots, but all are uncontested.

The seat representing Rice Lake and Hilton Townships is coming open on the South Prairie School Board. Randy Korslien is seeking reelection. Voting is at-large within the district.

Nedrose School District voters will elect one board member. Todd Awalt is seeking reelection to his seat.