Last week, Minot Public Schools, District #1, held a special board meeting to further discuss the district wide budget. In a prior special board meeting, a middle school with fewer than 300 students was prioritized for realignment and closure. Memorial Middle School at Minot AFB met this criteria.

However, on February 5th, 2024 it was outlined a potential realignment of Minot AFB Schools requires multi stakeholder discussions with the Department of the Air Force as a key player. The following includes a quotation from the presentation.
“Reexamination of schools with low enrollments-

Schools at Minot Air Force Base with under-utilized facilities. Please note: MPS provides educational services to Minot AFB through a cooperative agreement-any proposed changes, or discussion of changes, would need to be in collaboration with the Air Force.”

It is important to note, Minot Public Schools proposed efficiencies are to ensure the district wide budget operates with a balanced and manageable budget. In the midst of this, there are two schools in Minot slated for realignment to include McKinley Elementary and Bell Elementary.

With realignment, there are often challenging decisions a school board will make. However, as a stakeholder, your involvement is valuable and needed. The next school board meeting for Minot Public Schools, District #1 is February 15th, 2024. If there are questions or concerns, please email mafb.school.liaison@us.af.mil.