Grand Forks School Board: No discipline but more checks on Superintendent Terry Brenner

May 20—GRAND FORKS — School Board members took no disciplinary action against Superintendent Terry Brenner in response to a complaint filed by the group representing Grand Forks Public Schools' principals, but agreed to place a series of checks on his leadership.

During a special meeting on Monday, May 20, board members voted unanimously to accept a set of recommendations from Board President Amber Flynn to improve communication between Brenner and the school district's principals after the latter's bargaining unit, the Grand Forks Principals Association, filed a personnel complaint against Brenner in April.

Those checks include conducting a more thorough evaluation of the superintendent, hiring a leadership coach for Brenner, and holding biweekly meetings between Brenner and the GFPA to improve communication.

"This highlights a very public example of how to work together in a better way, how to resolve conflict in a healthier manner," Flynn said. "And it should fall on all of us to provide an example as a learning opportunity to those we educate."

The complaint principally revolved around Brenner's conduct after the

rollout of dozens of proposed cuts to staff positions

across the district.

An internal investigation conducted by Flynn found Brenner had not violated district policy but had demonstrated poor leadership and "a lack of collaboration and communication."

Under the terms agreed to by the School Board:

* Brenner will be subject to a "360 (degree) evaluation" including input from his subordinates, on top of the current superintendent evaluation.

* Grand Forks Public Schools will hire a leadership coach chosen by the School Board president and vice president to provide feedback on Brenner's leadership and "assist in cultivating and building/rebuilding good relationships with administrators."

* Brenner and the GFPA will hold biweekly standing meetings beginning in July and continuing through at least May 2025 to "understand the needs of each school and foster the relationship between the parties."

* The superintendent will be required to visit each school in the district at least twice a year. (North Dakota Century Code requires superintendents to visit their district's schools, but does not specify the frequency of visits.)

The recommendations also included written instructions warning against retaliation against participants in the internal investigation.

Brenner, who sat quietly through Monday's meeting, declined media requests for comment.

Flynn's investigation, which was completed Monday afternoon and delivered to board members, by one member's estimate, less than an hour before the meeting, laid out how relations broke down between Brenner and his principals after the coordinated announcement of the proposed staff cuts on Feb. 22.

Brenner, according to the report, left his principals out of "listening sessions" held between top administrators and teachers after the proposed cuts were met with massive backlash, then

publicly walked back several of those cuts

without consulting those principals.

Read more:

Report: Poor communication, unilateral decisions led to complaint against Brenner

"In our view, there is a lack of collaboration and respect from our superintendent," read a letter signed by the principals' association and included in their April 10 complaint.

Grand Forks Principals Association President Terry Bohan sat through Monday's meeting alongside several other principals. He declined to comment on the investigation or the board's actions.

"We're going to need some time for our group to get together and talk through that," he said. "And at the end of the day, we have school tomorrow."

The principals' association and Brenner were both provided copies of the internal investigation and board president's recommendations shortly before the meeting, Flynn said.

Board members largely accepted Flynn's recommendations as presented, only amending one provision to require the board's vice president — currently Dave Berger — to participate in hiring Brenner's leadership coach.

"It's clear there's trust issues on both sides and it is going to take both sides to improve that trust," said board member Eric Lunn, who went on to endorse the leadership coach as "money well spent."

Board member Cynthia Shabb was the most vocal critic of the special meeting.

She pointed out she'd argued for wider feedback on the superintendent's performance for some time and noted she'd only received the packet around 4:40 p.m., less than an hour before the meeting was due to start.

"I just worry about making any decisions that quickly about someone of Terry Brenner's stature and his role in the district," Shabb said. "I want to make good, sound decisions as a board member, so I feel a little crunched."

Flynn did read most of the 20-page report aloud at the meeting's outset, a roughly 30-minute process. She later explained she'd been rushing to complete the investigation ahead of surgery on Thursday.

Lunn also chastised the "leaking" of news about the principals' association letter in April, saying "there's a time for transparency and there's not a time for transparency."

He offered a colorful description of his discomfort throughout the meeting.

"I feel like I've been kissing my sister for 66 minutes," he said.

This story was updated to clarify North Dakota Century Code requirements for school district superintendents. Superintendents are required to visit the district's schools, but state statutes do not specify the frequency of these visits.