State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler on Tuesday announced two appointments to the Board of Public School Education, which is an oversight board for North Dakota K-12 education and career and technical education.
Lyndsi Engstrom, of Westhope, who is chief operations officer of the Central Regional Education Association, was reappointed to a new six-year term, Baesler said. Engstrom has been a board member since January 2022. Levi Bachmeier, the business manager of the West Fargo school district, was appointed to his first six-year term.
Gov. Doug Burgum appointed Engstrom and Bachmeier from a list of candidates submitted by the presidents of North Dakota United, the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders, and the North Dakota School Boards Association. The appointment process is set out in state law. The terms of both appointees begin July 1.
Six of the board’s members represent groups of counties, while Baesler is the board’s executive secretary and manages its business. Engstrom represents Benson, Bottineau, Cavalier, McHenry, Pembina, Pierce, Ramsey, Renville, Rolette, Towner and Walsh counties. Bachmeier will represent Barnes, Cass, Grand Forks, Griggs, Nelson, Steele, and Traill counties.
The board oversees North Dakota’s seven regional education service agencies and the North Dakota K-12 Education Coordination Council, which fosters collaboration among education stakeholders, supports innovation efforts, and makes policy recommendations to the state Legislature.
Its members also belong to the state Board of Career and Technical Education, which oversees the Department of Career and Technical Education and its programs. Aside from the Board of Public School Education members, the Board of Career and Technical Education includes the chancellor of North Dakota’s university system and the executive director of Job Service North Dakota.
The Board of Public School Education normally meets 10 times a year. Its primary work involves deciding school district requests to transfer property, reorganize, or dissolve.