Original Research by School Decision on Billings Co 1
Billings County School District #1 is a small, rural pre-kindergarten-through-eighth-grade district in western North Dakota, operating two open schools: DeMores Elementary and Prairie Elementary. The district sits in Billings County, with housing values anchored in the Belfield and Killdeer ZIP codes. The enrollment is very small, spread across a single section in each grade from pre-kindergarten through eighth. The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic presence and a handful of multiracial students. The district did not report free-or-reduced-price-lunch counts, special-education rates, or English-learner figures, so those pieces of the picture are simply absent here.
Because the district serves only through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate and no high school course or pathway data to report. Those gaps reflect the grade band, not a missing result. Once students finish eighth grade, they move on to a high school outside this district, and families will want to ask where those students go and what that transition looks like.
The state testing picture comes from the current year's ND A-PLUS assessment. North Dakota changed its assessment name and proficiency cut scores this cycle, so the results cannot be cleanly compared to prior years. The state also reported proficiency as ranges rather than single point values, which is common when tested groups are small. In fourth-grade math, proficiency landed in a high band, suggesting most students were meeting or exceeding standards. Fourth-grade science sat in a similarly strong range. Fourth-grade English language arts was more moderate, with a wider band that straddled the middle. By seventh grade, both math and English language arts proficiency dropped into a lower range, indicating that a smaller share of older students were reaching proficiency. The participation rate was consistent across subjects and grades. A parent looking at these results might want to ask the district what supports are in place for the upper elementary and middle grades, given that the seventh-grade bands sit below the fourth-grade bands in both core subjects. The tested groups are small enough that a few students moving in or out can shift the picture substantially, so a single year's range is a starting point rather than a verdict.
Housing in the district's footprint is modestly priced relative to the state benchmark and well below the national one. Values have appreciated sharply over the past year, with the Belfield area driving most of that growth and Killdeer contributing a smaller share. The estimated mortgage burden against local incomes sits at a ratio that looks manageable by national standards, assuming a conventional down payment. No rental data was available for the district, so renters will need to look elsewhere for that information. The district brief turned up no recent referendums, curriculum changes, property tax shifts, or other lasting parent-relevant developments. That absence does not mean nothing is happening locally; it means nothing of that nature surfaced in the search.
No locale brief was provided for the communities within the district, so the texture of daily life in Belfield, Killdeer, and the surrounding rural areas is not captured here. Families considering this district should visit directly and ask about the transition path for eighth-grade graduates, the structure of the two elementary schools, and what academic intervention looks like for the middle grades given the assessment pattern. The district's size is its defining feature: small classes, a tight-knit peer environment, and the trade-offs that come with limited staffing breadth and program offerings in a very small rural setting.
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