Bismarck extends superintendent contract through 2026
In the Bismarck R-5 School Board of Education meeting held Jan. 19, members agreed to extend Superintendent Dr. Michael Silvy’s contract through 2026. The board also made amendments to this year’s academic calendar and approved a three-year contract with SpedTrack.
Contract extended
Silvy’s contract will carry through June 30, 2026. He was originally hired by the district last spring, after former Bismarck superintendent Jason King took a position with Windsor C-1 Schools.
Silvy came to Bismarck from Valley R-6 School District in Caledonia after serving as superintendent for four years. The 2022-2023 school year is Silvy’s first full year with the district.
“I am very excited to get an extension on my contract,” said Silvy. “I have had a great start with Bismarck schools. We have amazing students here, and a staff and a community that really care about our students and their success.”
Silvy said he is also impressed with the Board of Education as members have worked with him to form solid goals for the district.
Calendar change
In the course of the meeting, the board amended the current school year’s calendar. Originally, the district was supposed to be in session on April 10, but decided to close the Monday after Easter.
The final day of school for the 2022-2023 has also been rescheduled. The last day would have been May 23, but is now May 19. Graduation for the high school is still set for May 12.
Silvy indicated the changes were possible because the district’s calendar had extra hours. The amendments will also let the district end the year with a full week of school.
The board tabled discussion on the 2023-24 school year calendar.
SpedTrack
Board members approved a three-year contract with SpedTrack Services for the district’s special education department.
SpedTrack, based out of Springfield, is software that lets special education instructors create individualized educational plans (IEPs), evaluations, and progress reports, and it automatically scans for possible compliance issues. According to the SpedTrack website, the department will be able to write IEPs faster by using a text library and templates to ensure all sections of the IEP document are included.
SpedTrack claims it has an easy way of monitoring students’ success as the reporting tool allows users to generate standard and customized reports in different formats. It also lets users monitor the status of all staff members working with different kids.
According to the company’s website, more than 17,000 active users have implemented SpedTrack to take care of the IEP needs of more than 385,000 students.
In other business, the board also discussed the 2023-2024 school calendar, but the discussion was tabled until the next board meeting.
The next Board of Education meeting is set for Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in the elementary school’s library.
The Bismarck Board of Education generally meets the third Thursday of each month.
Danielle Thurman is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be contacted at dthurman@dailyjournalonline.com or 573-518-3616.
