Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Ever since the New Rockford and Sheyenne schools merged to form New Rockford-Sheyenne School District #2 in 2006, its school board has consisted of members from both the former New Rockford and Sheyenne school districts.
Now, that could be about to change.
At the school board’s regular meeting on Feb. 13, New Rockford-Sheyenne School Board President, Mike Jacobson, proposed forgoing the old New Rockford and Sheyenne district requirements for school board elections. But first, he’s seeking the public’s input.
When the old New Rockford and Sheyenne districts merged nearly 17 years ago, an agreement was struck between the two schools as part of the reorganization plan – that the board for the newly-formed district would consist of three members from the former New Rockford district, two from the former Sheyenne district, and two elected “at large” from anywhere in the newly reorganized district.
The deal reassured residents of Sheyenne, a community much smaller than that of New Rockford, that they’d have guaranteed representation on the new school board.
However, Jacobson has now suggested changing that policy to allow anyone within the NR-S district to run for any of the seven seats on the school board. Doing so, he stated, could increase the number of school board candidates voters can choose from on election day.
“I just think that as hard as it is to get board members sometimes, if you make everything at-large, your pool is just bigger,” said Jacobson. “... It’s just about making sure that we’ve got a good pool of people to be board members.”
According to the Transcript’s archives, the last time a seat on the school board was contested by more than one candidate, excluding write-ins, was in 2015. That year, David Holzwarth and Mary Kay Price competed for an open New Rockford seat, and Roger Duda challenged Travis Benson for a Sheyenne seat.
A seat for the school board has not been contested since, leaving voters with no option at the ballot box unless they choose to write-in someone else.
Currently, the NR-S school board consists of Patti Larson and Travis Benson representing the former Sheyenne district; Mike Jacobson, Mary Kay Price and Mike Schaefer representing the former New Rockford District; and Eric Perleberg and Todd Allmaras representing the district at-large.
Elections for the school board occur every year, and each person is elected to a three-year term. The 2023 elections have been scheduled for June 6, and the two seats up for grabs are currently occupied by Mike Schaefer and Travis Benson.
Under the current policy, candidates for Benson’s seat would be limited to residents of the former Sheyenne district, and only a resident from the former New Rockford district could mount a challenge for Schaefer’s seat.
Under Jacobson’s proposal, candidates for any seat would only need to be residents of the combined NR-S district.
Jacobson stressed that his suggestion is not part of some hidden agenda to leave Sheyenne under-represented, and that he’s eager to hear what the public has to say before they move forward.
“I just want everybody to understand there is no ulterior motive,” said Jacobson. “... I personally do not know anything other than New Rockford-Sheyenne. I was not here during the time that they merged.”
He added, “What I thought we would do is just talk about it tonight, and if the community’s feedback is ‘no way, we’re not doing that,’ that’s okay.”
Residents are encouraged to reach out to board members and express their opinions. Jacobson can be reached via email at [email protected]. The two board members representing Sheyenne, Patti Larson and Travis Benson, can be reached via email at [email protected], and [email protected], respectively.
