Williams County School District #8, previously New Public School District #8 or New Public Schools, was a school district headquartered in Williston, North Dakota.[1]
The district mainly served unincorporated areas that were rural territories near Williston.[2] Additionally the district included a portion of Williston itself and all of Blacktail and Long Creek.[3] It was the geographically largest school district in North Dakota.[4]
The district only served grades K-8. High school students were sent to Williston High School in the Williston Public School District 1,[5] to the Nesson School District's Ray School in Ray, and to the Tioga School District's Tioga High School in Tioga.[6]
It was established in the early 1950s,[6] as a merger of various smaller school districts.[7]
By 2016 the district held two bond elections that were defeated by voters. That year the district leadership decided to use the building fund to pay for a 22,400-square-foot (2,080 m2) facility, with a cost of $16.9 million, meant to take the place of Stony Creek Middle School.[2]
The name changed to its final name, Williams County 8, in 2017.[8]
In 2020 a vote was held on whether it was to merge with the Williston District 1 to form a new district. 59.6% of the District 8 voters approved, as did 86.6% of the District 1 voters. The no percentages were 40.4% for District 8 and 13.4% for District 1. Some land that was in District 8 was given to other school districts.[7]
In 2021 the Williams County district merged with the Williston District to form the Williston Basin School District 7.[9]
The east-west dimension of the district was 70 miles (110 km), with the North Dakota-Montana border as the westward edge.[6]
None of the schools were in the Williston city limits even though the district administration was in Williston.[6]
Previously all schools were K-8 schools.[4]
Previously it operated Harney School, a K-8 one room school,[4] located in a mobile home.[13] Named after board member Tom Harney,[14] the facility was on a gravel road off of North Dakota Road 1804,[15] 13 miles (21 km) east of Williston,[14] and south of Tioga.[16] It opened circa 1984 as the area population increased due to the discovery of oil.[4] It historically had the lowest student enrollment of any of the schools.[13] 12 was the peak enrollment.[4] In 1997 the school had three students, making it the smallest of any North Dakota school. That year it had three computers in the back of the classroom along with a fax machine, a microwave, and a refrigerator.[15] In the 2002-2003 school year, the number of students was six. For the 2003-2004 school year there was only one student enrolled, and the school closed after that year.[4] At the end of its life the school had a fax machine and was wired to connect to the internet.[4] Its second classroom, in the school's final year, functioned as an ad hoc dormitory for the sole teacher. Scheduling was flexible to accommodate the single student and break up monotony.[16] The school board intended to not provide hot lunches nor school bus services for the lone student.[14] The student's father took him to and from school. The superintendent allowed the student to do archery practice as he was the only student.[13] Stony Creek was to take the former student after the closure of Harney.[17]
The district also formerly operated Stony Creek School, immediately east of Williston.[6] In 1997 it had 152 students.[6] In 2016 it was a middle school only.[2] By 2021 the school was in disuse and the district was determining how to give the school back to the property owner.[18]