By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
“If you are done with your lessons, it’s not open up your computers … it’s let’s read a book, let’s look at your planner.” - Jessica Van Winkle, Bismarck middle school teacher, on limiting screen time.
Jessica Van Winkle, a special education teacher at Horizon Middle School in Bismarck, sets up a monitor on her desk on Aug. 19, 2026, before the first day of school next to a pile of laptops that will be distributed to students. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)
By Michael Achterling
As a new school year kicks off across North Dakota, student technology use is top of mind for education leaders and lawmakers with new policies being floated for the 2027 legislative session.
Participants in a recent survey of more than 2,200 North Dakotans said they think technology access is important to supporting teaching and learning.
Sen. Michelle Axtman, R-Bismarck, said she’s working on a bill for the 2027 session that would limit screen time on school-owned devices based on student grade level and prevent laptops or tablets from being taken home unless authorized by a teacher for a specific purpose.
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On this week’s podcast episode, reporter Michael Achterling joins host Craig Blumenshine to talk about his reporting on technology in schools. Deputy editor Jeff Beach also describes how a state education official is urging lawmakers to let schools retain flexibility on deciding how to use AI.
A Closer Look with the Monitor is a partnership with Prairie Public's Main Street.
North Dakota Solicitor General Philip Axt listens to arguments Dec. 18, 2023, before the North Dakota Supreme Court. (Photo by Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)
By Mary Steurer
President Donald Trump said Thursday he would nominate a prominent lawyer in the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office to become North Dakota’s next federal district court judge.
Phil Axt, 39, has served as solicitor general for the office since 2023. If confirmed to the bench, he would fill a vacancy left by former U.S. District Court Judge Dan Traynor, who was appointed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley described Axt as “supremely intelligent and hard working.”
“His work has caught the eye of many of my colleagues across the United States,” Wrigley told the North Dakota Monitor.
Tony Hillig is the director of the Noth Dakota Parks and Recreation Department. (Photo courtesy of the North Dakota Governor’s Office)
By Monitor Staff
Gov. Kelly Armstrong has promoted a five-year veteran of the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department to lead the agency.
Tony Hillig will become director of the department effective immediately, Armstrong’s office announced Thursday.
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FROM STATES NEWSROOM
By Makenzie Huber
South Dakota prisons struggle to prepare inmates for release, and the support systems meant to help them on the outside often fall short, according to a report from a national nonprofit.
The assessment found consistent gaps in support, employment, housing and mental health and addiction treatment for people leaving prison. It also found the state lacks the data and oversight structure needed to track and improve outcomes.
Gov. Larry Rhoden created the task force to study ways of reducing repeat offense rates and improving rehabilitation programming.
Cities turn to AI to speed housing permitting | Robbie Sequeira
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