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NDSCS to take over farm management program

The Farm Business Management Program has found a new home in higher education, according to a report Monday at the Jamestown Public School Board. North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, has been approved to manage the program that will...

The Farm Business Management Program has found a new home in higher education, according to a report Monday at the Jamestown Public School Board.

North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, has been approved to manage the program that will continue to be offered through the James Valley Career & Technology Center in Jamestown, said Robert Lech, superintendent of Jamestown Public School District.

"They have taken over the programs in the past, and they've been successful," Lech said.

In April 2017, the school board went against the school district recommendation to drop the Farm Business Management Program, based in part on input from beginner and experienced farmers who said the program filled a vital role that was not replicated elsewhere in the community, Lech said. The school district sought partners to maintain the program in Jamestown.

The NDSCS has an agricultural department that will manage the program at the James Valley Area Career & Technology Center, Lech said. This arrangement offers appropriate support and oversight, while allowing it to continue serving the Jamestown area but without using K-12 public school dollars, he said.

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"I think NDSCS has been a really good partner (considering) they do have a program that manages adult farm management programs," Lech said. "We think not only will the program be able to continue to exist here but with a greater level of support from the NDSCS ag department."

There was no need for the school board to act on the transition, Lech said. There are no longer contractual obligations to the program other than providing reimbursed office and administrative support, he said.

NDSCS was approved to host the program by the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education. The program oversight will come from Craig Zimprich, a professor and chair of the Agriculture Department, according to NDSCS.

The Jamestown program was subsidized a total $150,593 since 2010, Lech said. John Lynch, director of the James Valley Area Career & Technology Center, had recommended non-renewal of the program contracts for lack of funding and uncertainty with future funding.

In other business, the school board unanimously approved:

• A grades 9-12 athletic training contract with Jamestown Regional Medical Center for zero dollars. The $35,000 savings will be applied through advertising.

• Revising the James River Special Education Unit Administrative time use cost share reimbursement to 70 percent Jamestown Public Schools and 20 percent rural school cooperative for an $85,000 savings to the school district, Lech said.

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