North Border School District receives $500,000 boost.

Byline: Kevin Bonham

Feb. 28--The North Border School District in Pembina, N.D., will receive nearly $500,000 from the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction -- about two years after it first expected the cash. A bill containing an emergency clause to award the money has passed both houses of the North Dakota Legislature and is awaiting Gov. John Hoeven's signature.

The bill, HB1178, reinstates about $487,000 that North Border expected in 2005 as part of the state's school consolidation incentive bonus program. North Border was created by the consolidation of Neche, Pembina and Walhalla school districts. 'Big chunk' "It's a real big chunk," North Border Superintendent Joe Defoe said Tuesday. "We probably deficit spent by that amount over the past two years." North Border's annual operating budget is about $5 million. To qualify for the program, which was discontinued in 2005, the consolidated school district had to meet certain criteria in terms of square miles and the number of students in the district. For North Border, it meant that the district had to have 520 students enrolled to qualify for the incentive bonus. "We met that in July 2005, when the reorganization went into effect," Defoe said. "Then, when school started, we dropped blow 520. Therefore, we didn't meet the ...