Bemidji Area Schools held their first board meeting for the new school year earlier this week.

The school board meeting consisted of a couple of changes to the code of conduct. This year, the district’s goal is to focus on instruction for students and improve on reading comprehension for this school year.

“We’re implementing our instructional plan, which is something that we’re looking at focusing on,” said Bemidji Area Schools superintendent Jeremy Olson. “[We’re] looking at how we can allow our students to have a little bit more success in reading by focusing on … strong instructional practices, what do they look like? And really, our teachers are trying to look through the data and trying to identify, what are some areas that we can improve on and how do we move forward as a district?”

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board voted to declare Central Elementary a surplus property, which is the first step in moving forward with the potential sale of the school and property.

The first day of school for Bemidji Area Schools will be Tuesday, Sept. 5. The next board meeting will be held on Sept. 18.

By — Zy'Riah Simmons