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school district environment was much different
than it is today. Our community
had declining student enrollment, teacher
reductions, and we were considering a
move to one school building, which would
have eliminated the current elementary
building. We faced declining enrollment
in students, despite our best efforts to encourage
families to move back to our area.
In the spring of 2008, our enrollment
dipped to its lowest at 512 students for
Grades K-12. At that point, however, the
school district began to see some small
increases or leveling off of decline with
the Bakken oil development beginning to
make a substantial presence in our area.
Fast forward to today, just six years later,
and the McKenzie County Public School
District #1 has 1,070 students in Grades
K-12, which includes a kindergarten class
of over 120 students—a substantial increase
from 38 in 2008.
The school board began working on
the new growth issues by filling in current
buildings and moving the sixth grade to
the high school facility. The school district
also completed a building addition
and renovation at the elementary school
to start the 2013-2014 school year, which
added capacity for almost 200 students to
the building; however, the growth filled
the additional area immediately.
In the summer of 2013, the school district
completed a demographic study that
showed an expected student population of
over 1,600 students by 2017-2018. The
school district, while being virtually at capacity
with the current population, began
planning for a new school building to be
built, increasing capacity and alleviating the
need for portable classrooms. In North Dakota,
public schools are required to provide
education for the students in their districts.
We cannot simply say “no more, we’re full.”
We must provide for our new students.
On March 11, 2014, the school district
residents held a scheduled vote on a
$27-million bond referendum for a new
high school to be built east of Watford
City, ND.
The journey from school closures to
new school construction happened quickly
and is certainly an interesting dynamic.
Our school district is not alone in that
journey. Many school districts in western
North Dakota have similar experiences and
also face unprecedented school construction
projects. The North Dakota school
construction loan program, which typically
has been a very quiet program, increased
its allocation by over 400 percent. The
requests were more than the allocation
within the first four months of the current
biennium. The North Dakota Legislature
meets once every two years, and the state
budget is set in two-year increments. Because
of the budget cycle, schools in need
may have to wait until 2016 before they
see walls going up on new buildings. The
resurgence of youth in the state is tremendous
to see and is certainly putting school
districts into growth mode after years of
managing declining enrollment.
The news of record births in North Dakota
after so many years of decline is certainly
encouraging; however, the challenges
of bringing school district infrastructure
back to levels to support the growth are
clear and need additional funding. The rapid
growth for western North Dakota needs
some additional support to ensure that the
tax payers in these areas are not overburdened
with the challenges of school districts
and additional facilities. The efforts
to reduce property tax in North Dakota are
appreciated, however, some of it is reversed
when building projects are initiated and
funded by local tax bases.
Of course, the funding of infrastructure
in our oil-impacted areas is much
more than a school district problem. Cities,
counties and townships are challenged
with the ability to address infrastructure
issues with limited resources and short
timeframes. The extension of road systems
and improvements to withstand current
volume and loads are well above the resources
currently available to these subdivisions—especially
those in the heart of
this development. Road systems, as well as
water and sewer lines, are an essential element
to the development of badly needed
permanent housing projects in western
communities.
The cost of construction in our areas is
a major obstacle for addressing the growth
issues and is a challenge for keeping the
cost of living at a reasonable level. The cost
of infrastructure is often placed back on
the developers, which is, ultimately, driving
the housing and rental prices up, as
well. The long-term solution for many of
the issues is more supply to reduce prices
and address the demand. However, the
ability to get the supply increased to meet
demand is a challenge for the political subdivisions
in providing the access and infrastructure
expected for the private developers
to do business in our areas.
While the state legislature has attempted
to address the issues of western
North Dakota in recent legislation,
it is apparent that the need is exceeding
the funding provided and new solutions
should be explored. The reality remains:
these solutions need to be found quickly;
time is very important for infrastructure
construction and to prevent our cities,
counties and school districts from getting
further behind in their ability to address
needs. Whether it is a special session or an
influx of state investments, western North
Dakota is asking for a broad and swift solution
to the funding gaps currently found
and to allow the local subdivisions to address
individual issues.
The opportunity for North Dakota to
capitalize on the current economic environment
and oil development is tremendous.
This generation needs to look back
and feel proud of the way this opportunity
was handled. If everyone is able to come
together and work toward long-term solutions,
the entire state will benefit for years,
even decades, to come. However, the solutions
need to come quickly to avoid missed
opportunities and the ability to build communities
in western North Dakota.
I look forward to meeting you in my
role as president of the NDAOGPC. Have
a great summer!
Save the Date!
High-fives all around! Now that we’re
right about to surpass the milestone, the
Bakken will be celebrating the fact that we’re
on track for 2014 to be the year that we produce
one million barrels per day! The festivities
will be held on June 25, 2014 in Tioga,
ND and will be put on by Neset Consulting
Service. Don’t miss the party!
Stay Up-to-Date on Oil
Activity!
If you want the latest oil and gas news
at your fingertips, then you should sign up
for the North Dakota Association of Oil &
Gas Producing Counties’ Newsletter!
Just go to www.ndenergy.org, click
on the “Email Newsletter” tab, enter
your email address, and you’re all set!
BASIN BITS | Spring 2014 17