Capstone Academy challenges North Dakota teacher licensing rules

A Fargo private school’s federal lawsuit could reshape who is allowed to teach in North Dakota classrooms, and the fallout would not stop at the city limits of Fargo. If Capstone Classical Academy succeeds, private schools could gain more freedom to hire teachers without state licenses and to assign them beyond the subjects the state currently approves, a change that could ripple into Stutsman County schools and become a model other private programs try to follow.

Capstone Classical Academy, a K-12 Christian school that opened in 2022 and said it enrolled about 300 students in the 2025-2026 school year, filed the case June 10 in U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota. The plaintiffs are Capstone, teacher Kaylie M. Young and parent Paul D. Nelson. The defendants include Superintendent of Public Instruction Levi Bachmeier and members of the Education Standards and Practices Board. The case was assigned docket number 1:26-cv-00190.

The complaint says North Dakota is unusual because it requires all private school teachers to be licensed or approved by the state and limits them to teaching only subjects their licenses or endorsements authorize. It also says private schools must file annual compliance reports showing that educators are licensed and teaching only approved subjects. Capstone argues those rules impose heavy financial and administrative costs, narrow the pool of potential teachers and interfere with its stated mission to help children acquire wisdom, cultivate virtue and pursue rigorous academic study within a Christian worldview.

The school says the state threatened to shut it down in May 2025 after it hired several teachers without state teaching licenses. In the lawsuit, Capstone argues the rules violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process, Equal Protection and Privileges or Immunities clauses and asks the court for declaratory and injunctive relief.

North Dakota’s licensing system is not new. State licensure materials say teacher licenses are generally issued for two years and can be renewed for three additional years, with background-check and program-completion requirements. Federal education guidance also says private-school teachers in elementary and high school grades in North Dakota must be licensed or approved by the state board.

The Education Standards and Practices Board said it is required by state law to make sure classroom teachers are properly licensed and said it has worked with Capstone’s administration and faculty to ensure compliance. Bachmeier said he could not comment on active litigation.

On June 10, the court also granted pro hac vice admission to Capstone’s out-of-state attorneys, Michael E. Bindas and Riley Grace Borden. The case now puts a long-standing licensing framework under direct legal challenge, with a ruling that could alter how private schools across North Dakota staff classrooms and who watches over them.