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Oakes Public School District 41 board meeting, May 19, 2026

1 h 16 min · 0 public speakers

Reading and test scores ▶ 2:39

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 16 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Oakes school board approves health insurance plan changes, reviews draft preliminary budget 34:37

  • District staff reported that kindergarten through 2nd grade and grades 4 through 6 exceeded reading targets, while the high school fell 1 point short of its goal. 2:39
  • The board also accepted the goal progress monitoring report for reading. 13:38
  • A district staff member walked the board through a first draft of the preliminary budget, which the staff member described as super preliminary and not requiring approval. 35:38
Item by item (8)
  1. Opening and agenda approval 0:00
    • The meeting was called to order at 7:00 AM in the central office room, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. 0:00
    • A motion on the agenda passed. 0:00
  2. Staff recognitions 0:00
    • The meeting included a recognition of a teacher for years of guidance and of two teachers leaving the district for other positions. 1:10
    • The board also thanked 2 teachers who are leaving the district for other positions. 1:24
  3. Reading goal progress monitoring report 0:00
    • A district staff member reported that the percentage of K through 2 learners and students in grades 4, 5 and 6 exceeded the reading targets. 4:10
    • The staff member said the high school was 1 point below its goal and that testing irregularities identified among mostly 9th and 10th grade students during spring testing led teachers to retest those students. 7:11
    • In response to questions, the staff member said reading skills must be taught across content areas at the high school and that the district also looks at ACT and ASVAB results. 9:19
    • A motion to accept the goal progress monitoring report for goal number 1, reading, passed. 13:38
  4. Principal presentations on reading data 14:07
    • A staff member reported that the number of K-6 students in the urgent category went from 10 to 1 and the number in the at or above category grew from 101 to 134. 14:44
    • The staff member said the elementary no longer has a full-time reading interventionist position and the district would work to sustain its system without it. 18:28
    • A high school staff member said the student incentive threshold was 50% this year and will be 65% in the coming year. 26:29
  5. Consent agenda 30:12
    • The board took a roll call vote on a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. 30:12
    • The motion passed 5⁠-⁠0. 30:47
  6. Health insurance plan changes 30:47
    • Sheila Nagel said that if the district had done nothing, the health insurance increase would have been about 11.41%, and that the board told teachers it would go with the second option, which gives savings with the least change to the schedule. 31:46
    • A staff member said the district's high deductible plan currently covers 100% after the deductible but under the new plans it goes to 80/20. 33:03
    • The board approved the Negotiation Committee's recommendation for health insurance plan changes 5⁠-⁠0. 35:00
  7. First draft of preliminary budget 35:01
    • A staff member said taxable valuation is projected at $25,414,000, with ag land valuations in Dickie County decreasing by 8%, and that the district should be able to levy its max of 60 mills. 35:38
    • The staff member said the draft includes no wage increases for '27 and '28 and a 15% increase in health insurance premiums in those years. 48:00
    • A staff member said estimated transfers from the general fund are $95,000 this year, $95,000 next year, and then $104,000 and $115,000. 1:05:30
  8. Upcoming meetings and adjournment 1:15:09
    • The next regular meeting was set for Tuesday, June 16th, 2026, at 7:00 AM. 1:15:09
    • The reorganization meeting will be held July 7th, and the meeting adjourned at 8:15 AM. 1:15:34

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “May 19 2026 Regular School Board Meeting”