Negotiating committee convenes closed session on teacher negotiation strategy

The Chair called a special meeting of the negotiating committee May 6, 2025, at the Central office and said the session would address teacher negotiation strategy.

The Chair told those present that the item “may be discussed in an executive session only when an open meeting would have an adverse fiscal effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the board,” and cited what the Chair gave as “North Dakota Century code section 44-4-19.1, subsection 9” as the legal authority for closing the meeting. The Chair also said, “The executive session will be recorded.”

Before adjourning to the closed session, the Chair asked any members of the public attending the meeting to leave the room and said the committee expected to reconvene the open portion at approximately 9:00 a.m. The minutes, the Chair directed, would show that the executive session began at 7:46 a.m., was attended by Superintendent Sound, board members Nagel and Heimlich, and CFO Jeffson, and was adjourned at 9:06 a.m.

The open portion of the meeting resumed and the public was invited to return; the transcript contains no substantive, on-the-record descriptions of negotiation positions or proposals. The Chair gave only brief closing procedural remarks and did not disclose details of the executive-session discussion in the recorded open remarks.