001Good evening. I am Tiffany Nelson, Community Ed Director for Waconia Public Schools. We are co-sponsoring for tonight's forum. On behalf of Waconia Community Education and the League of Women Voters, I would like to welcome you to the District 110 School Board Candidates Forum. Candidate forums such as this one are important. They allow for community members an opportunity to engage and hear from candidates regarding issues that are important to them. We thank all the candidates and the audience for attending tonight and our online audience for viewing. Sponsorship of this forum is a public service providing you with an opportunity to hear the candidates discuss important issues face-to-face. The views expressed here tonight are those of the candidates and not those of the League of Women Voters or Waconia Community Education. Sponsorship of this forum is not
002an endorsement by the League of Women Voters or Waconia Community Ed of any particular candidate. Hi, I am Darcia Dierking, Voter Service Forum Coordinator for League of Women Voters of Eastern Carver County. Tonight, we are pleased to be partnering with Waconia Community Education. The League of Women Voters Eastern Carver County has a longstanding history in our community of providing unbiased candidate and issue information that is widely used by Minnesota voters regardless of their political beliefs. The League does not support or oppose a political party or a candidate for office. League of Women Voters posts complete, unedited recordings of forums. Editing is authorized only for official media reporting. Excerpts or edited clips of candidate forums may not be used for partisan political purposes. There is never enough time to cover all of the issues. If you
003feel that your question was not addressed, please contact the candidate directly after the forum. And now I would like to introduce our moderator. Laura Helmer is a certified moderator and president of League of Women Voters of Minnesota. She is not a voter in this election. Laura. Thanks, Darcia. All candidates for Waconia School Board were invited to participate in this forum. And here are the rules for tonight. Each candidate will be given one and a half minutes for their opening statement and one and a half minutes for a closing statement. The opening statements will be given in alphabetical order. The order of answering questions and the closing statements. at League forums is rotated based on a randomly generated grid so that each candidate has the opportunity to answer first and last. Candidates will have up to
004one and a half minutes to respond to the questions. I just want to do a check with Darcia and make sure that that is correct in my script. I did two. Darcia, one and a half minutes for questions or one minute to answer questions? It is one and a half minutes per question unless... It's a shorter question, then you may announce a shorter time period. Thanks. I think we won't mess around with that. We'll have one and a half minutes for every question. Thanks. Please note that our timekeepers, they will have a 30-second and then a 15-second sign. They'll hold up for you. They also have a stop sign to indicate when your time is complete and I ask that you please be respectful of those time markers Questions may be submitted by the audience
005in attendance tonight We also have several questions that were previously submitted by email to the League of Women Voters of Eastern Carver County So let's begin with our opening statements and we'll begin with Chad on Gerald Hi, my name is Chad. I'm Gerald. I'm running for school board I've got three boys in the district. Actually, one of them is in college now. My wife, Joni, and I have been in town for about 20 years. I own a business downtown. I was driven to run for school board because of the finances primarily, my tax dollars, your tax dollars. I don't feel like they've really been managed the best in the last few years. So I think if I'm on that team with our new superintendent and finance manager that I can add some value there. I
006don't have all the answers, but I'm a logic-based, fair person that wants to advocate for parents and students and teachers and just tackle the issues. I was motivated to run, besides for the financial reasons by the masking of our students over the last handful of years. There's people in the audience tonight with masks on. That's your personal choice. But when you decide you're going to put a mask on somebody else, I had a real problem with that. And that was a real issue for me. So that's part of why I'm here tonight. I think that's a 2% issue today. The finances are a big issue for me. And that's the primary reason why I'm running. Chad Almjeld, A-L-M-J-E-L-D. Please vote for me. Kelly Amat. Good evening. My name is Kelly Amat. I'm running for school
007board, obviously. My wife and I have been in the community for 14 years. We have two children. My daughter is in Denver going to grad school there. My son, I like to say that we just can't get him to leave the house. There's a story behind that. I am running for school board because as I look around the nation and see a lot of the extremism that's going on, I want to make sure that I do my part to make sure. That the as I like to say that you know the students teachers and ideas are all safe in the classroom I Am a problem solver. That's the one talent that I would say that I'm going to bring to this I have a reputation throughout my careers as Being the person you go to
008when you need a solution doesn't matter really what the area is I'll find the problem or engage the people who can I may tend to ramble tonight. I apologize. That's just who I am. If I were anything else, it would be peak hypocrisy or might say the summit of hypocrisy. So I will do my best to stick to the answers and give you what you need. Jesse Bergstrom. Hello, I'm Jesse Bergstrom. Is that close enough? I'm Jesse Bergstrom, and I see a lot of familiar faces in the crowd. My wife and I have lived here, actually just right over there, for 17 years, and we have three boys in the district, a couple high schoolers and a middle schooler now. They've grown up in ISD 110 in Southview. To give you a little background of
009who I am and where I come from. I have, for the whole time I've lived in Waconia, I was the owner of an electronic medical record software company. About four years ago, I sold that company and am now transitioning to become an author illustrator of children's books. And throughout all those years, I have worked on boards of churches, businesses, and nonprofits, figuring out and helping solve problems. My parents gifted me with a very strong sense of giving back. What we have, we can use to raise the whole community up, what each of us have, and we all have a responsibility to do that. I'm a true believer in the campsite rule of leave a place better than when you got there. So I believe my experience is what the district needs right now. Thank you
010to the League of Women Voters and to all of you for coming out tonight. Tyler Gengistad. Hi, my name is Tyler Gangstead. Moved to Waconia a little over two years ago. Was living in Robbinsdale prior to then. We came to Waconia for the school district specifically. A strong, valued community. Vastly growing. Got my wife, been married 10 years, two children, second grade and kindergarten, both at Southview. The reason I'm running is twofold. Finance is obviously the number one issue. Your hard-earned tax dollars should be spent wisely. I attended many, many school board meetings when I first moved into the community, and I didn't feel like there was any transparency into where our dollars were being spent, and hence we're in the SOD situation that we have today. I'd love to be a part of figuring
011that out and solving it. I think we've already made great steps with the new superintendent and business manager. But then second, what really pushed me over the edge was the pandemic with masking. You know, the school board, I think, made the correct choice prior to school starting that year. You know, let the kids come. Those that want to wear masks can wear masks. But then halfway through the year, they decided to vote another way, and I think that went against what the community really wanted. These aren't our seats. They're our constituents, our voter seats. We run on a platform, and I hope to earn that vote, have this seat, and represent your voice. Thank you. Melanie Hagan. Well, good evening. Thank you all for coming tonight, and I'd like to personally thank the League of
012Women's Voters for hosting this tonight. My name is Melanie Hagen, and I'm honored to be a candidate for Waconia ISD 110 School Board. My husband, Nafe, and I have been a part of this community for 15 years, and we have three children in the district, so I'm very invested. Our son, Caleb, is at the middle school, and then we have Gabriel and Soraya at Bayview. I'm passionate about public education. and having a say in our children's academic endeavors as a voice of a parent and that's why I'm here tonight and I am a parent of a special needs child and I've experienced all of the emotional and academic challenges that come with that so I feel like I have experience and advocacy to offer in that area I have a master's degree in communication disorders
013and I serve at Ridgeview Medical Center as a medical speech pathologist and a certified brain injury specialist. I'm running to be directly involved in this community and important decisions that will affect our community and our students. I want to support teachers because they are the ones who spend all the time with our students and They really give back, and I want to be able to listen to their concerns and honor the resources that they need to succeed. And it would be my honor and privilege to serve on the Waukonia School Board. Please vote for me, Melanie Hagen. Kim Kelser-Breeden. Hi, I'm Kim Kelser-Breeden, and I'm excited to be running for ISD 110 School Board. Thank you very much again for coming out tonight and for all of you watching at home. I am a high
014school math teacher, an experienced school board member, a mom, and a native of Waconia. I have 25 years teaching high school math, both in person and online. I currently work for Minnesota Online High School, which is a public charter school. I had the privilege of serving on their school board for five years. During that time, I learned a lot about how school boards run. I receive state-required training in school board roles and responsibility, school finance, and human resources. As a teacher, I'm also very aware of the issues that are impacting education right now. I am also a mom to three, including one with special needs. Regardless of how people know me, whether it's through work, volunteer, or in my personal life, I think they would all agree that I'm a hard worker. I'm very passionate,
015and I'm going to follow through to get things done. I'm a proud graduate of Waconia High School, and I'm looking forward to giving back to the community. Steve Miner. Hello. My name is Steve Miner. I've lived in Waconia for over 30 years. My wife, Dawn, has lived here her whole life. We have two kids in the district. I love what I do for a living. I get to serve a group of diverse engineers as an engineering manager. I love the software industry. I think it's fascinating just how fast things move. But what motivated me to run was leadership. Right now, this community is fantastic, but our schools, we have some challenges, right? I understand the duties of school board, and we have new leadership coming in. We have four open seats, we have a new
016superintendent, and we have some challenges to tackle. I believe I have some experience in leadership and the willingness and desire for transparency. If you check out my website or other things that I've talked about, transparency is one of my number one things because without transparency, the communication, we can't actually start tackling the problems and start talking about everything without all the information on the table. So I definitely want to help tackle our financial challenge that we have. I want to support our teachers, parents and students, parents. Respecting parents choices is one of my ultimate campaign foundations as well And thank you for illegal women voters and community and and all that volunteered your time tonight Catherine Soti Good evening. My name is Catherine Soti. I've got two kids in the district one at the elementary
017school and one at the middle school I've also got a husband who teaches at the high school He's been there a little over 15 years teaching math a little background about me I have an undergraduate in biology and philosophy. And I know that's kind of a weird combination, but it was really centered around medical ethics. And now I have my master's in medical device technology. I currently work in Chaska at a med device facility. I've worked there for about 17 years. And in the past eight years, I've worked as a quality assurance manager. I feel like I'm qualified for this role as a school board member as my major responsibilities at work is working through the issues with cross-functional teams, trying to balance the needs of your upper management, your key stakeholders, your patients, and
018coming up with the best possible solution when not everyone agrees. I understand firsthand the decisions that I make at my role can impact patients worldwide, and just like the decisions that our board make, impacts our community as a whole. So I want to thank you for this opportunity to come here and have this discussion. Thanks. Now we'll begin with our questions. And a reminder, again, you'll have a minute and a half to answer all of these. The first one will start with Catherine. When adjusted for inflation since 2003, Waconia's combined state general education and special education funding shortfalls create a funding gap of nearly $2,000 per student for Waconia. What, if anything, is the role of the school board to fill that state funding gap? It's a difficult conversation. You're correct around that. It's about
019$2,000 per child, which I think is around $8 million shortfall for Waconia. There are a couple ways that you can try to combat that, which is creating and maintaining balanced budgets, creating long-term financial plans, and then just being transparent with the overall decisions that you're making as a school board. I think also we can take a more active role in trying to campaign our senators and people with bills in the House, I believe, right now. I think it passed the House, but it may be stuck in Senate around the omnibus for education. Trying to get our legislation to pass those, be passionate about it, push them for reform, and push them for movement forward. Chad. I really can't answer that question because I haven't seen any financial statements. I don't have any visibility to where
020the big picture is for for that topic You know certainly raising money is an option but without all the details I don't know how I would answer that question frankly. It's eight million of a pretty sizable Sizable budget, so I'd have to see a lot more detail. I have an accounting background so I think I could look at it and come up with a more informed answer with more detail, but based on that question, I don't really have anything else. Steve. Yeah, so special ed funding is a challenge for all districts in the state of Minnesota. It's a pretty important issue that you hear a lot of talk in the media about where people that are currently in office say a lot of things, but we haven't seen a lot of action in Minnesota. So
021as a school board, we obviously have different levels of funding that come from state or federal sources. We have the ability to put levies and stuff on a ballot to have taxpayers decide if they want to contribute more. My goal as a candidate would definitely be to avoid taxing our community more than we already do. And I think holding, like, when we go on November 8th, we vote for not only four new school board members, but you're also putting people in a much more prominent role to answer that question. because when you look at the gap, I believe it's somewhere around two and a half, $3 million in our district right now, or at least it was the previous year. That's funding that we know our state has plenty of money with a $10 billion
022surplus that they took from us this last year. So we need to hold our elected officials accountable. I will definitely be a voice in that fight as I get to learn more about the ins and outs of our budget. And I would love to advocate with our community and help empower parents to join together and work with other school boards across the state to actually make some progress there. Thank you. Jesse. Well, the the question is actually twofold Part of it was is the special ed which is a underfunded mandates so Our schools are actually required to do some particular things for special ed students Unfortunately, the government doesn't pay it enough to actually fund those so half of that eight million dollars is really coming from a shift of money that we have to
023take from our regular students to pay for to pay for our special ed needs that we need to do and We need as a, and that's half of it. The other half is just the amount of money has decreased for our regular students as well. Both of those things have to be advocated for with our state government. We have to be, as school board members, we have to be advocating for more money or repealing. some of the mandates if we want to go that way. But we need to be advocating for the schools. And with our budget surpluses at the state level, we should be getting some of that money. And I will be an advocate for that and for the school district with our local senators and congressmen. Thank you. Kim. As many people
024have said, we really need to advocate for increased funding at the state. One of the main problems is that we no longer have a dedicated state funding source for education when they repealed the statewide property tax. So that has led to lack of stability. So it makes it really hard for districts then to plan when we're at the whim of Congress to decide each year what they're going to fund. One other thing that hasn't been mentioned is a lot of the cost of education falls to local operating levies. One of the issues is that the operating levies work different in each community. So for example, here in Waconia, the same amount of an operating levy puts more burden on our taxpayers than it does in Eden Prairie. So what you contribute, your dollar doesn't go
025as far here as it does in other communities based on the business and property needs of the community. So again, that is something that we need to advocate for in the state is to make it equitable so all communities across Minnesota get the proper funding for their education. Thank you. Kelly. As Kim pointed out. You know, since 2003, we've lost the dedicated state funding for education. And so she used the term whims that basically were at the whim of the legislature. I would almost say the caprice, basically, depending on, you know, how the weather is working that year. As far as, you know, the money that's going to come, there was, I think, the education budget this last legislative session was around a billion dollars. But for the SPED funding, they were working through negotiations.
026There was... between $200 and $265 million that was left on the table because they couldn't reach an agreement as to how that money should be managed. So that's money that we miss out on. So yes, the board, we have a responsibility to be fiscally responsible. The district has a responsibility. We could get a good business manager in there. But at a certain point, you run out of fat to cut, and you start cutting into the meat. And really, we need... legislators who are willing to step up and represent our district so that we can get the money that we need for the schools. Melanie. Yeah, this is a very challenging question because our funding and our budgets are such an important integral part to the way that our system runs and being able to understand
027how those finances come together and... As the the rest of the panel said just being able to work together as a team communicate and advocate to our legislators to Get the job done and ask a lot of questions and find out what we can do how we can advocate for each other Tyler I would say that question is twofold in my eyes. As a private citizen, I agree you can reach out to your legislators and focus on school funding. As a board member, after attending the meeting where they went over the financial forensic audit, it only played a minor role in the funding gap that this district's having. A lot of it was just over expenditures on capital expenses. So if we don't get that financial house in order, I don't care how much money
028we ask our legislators for, we need to fix what we've got going on here first. Thank you. The next question will go to Tyler first. As a school board member, how would you respond to parents' concerns about what is being taught in classrooms? Great question. Another reason that I decided to run, as I think was spoken in the last forum, the school board doesn't play a huge role in the curriculum that's developed that's left to the teachers and various groups within the school district, but the school board does have oversight of that. I talk to parents all the time, people in my neighborhood that are concerned about various things that are creeping into schools. I don't know what rules, what guidance we can provide in that or what oversight we have, but I look forward
029to hopefully sitting in this seat and having an opportunity to play a role in monitoring the community's concerns with things that they bring to my attention. Thank you Melanie, can you repeat the question please? Sure as a school board member How would you respond to parents concerns about what is being taught in classrooms? Very important to maintain transparency with parents as a parent of three children in the district now I love to be involved in aware and to be a fixture in the classroom get in and volunteer when I can and be present and it's important that we Advocate for the parents to take time to meet with teachers and attend conferences and be Be there be active listeners I also had an idea about taking more time as a school board to be a
030little bit more present in the community and having town hall meetings possibly every three months. Maybe school board members could be at conferences, spend time out in the community to be able to really listen to stakeholders and parents and find out what their concerns are, bring it to the meetings and be able to communicate effectively to come up with some action items to address. Kim I believe that parents and teachers need to form a team So my first thing would be that if we have concerns with our child's curriculum The first person we need to talk to is the teachers because a lot of the times it might just be a misunderstanding We do also have a policy already in place that as parents we have right to request to review any curriculum and request
031an alternative So again, the school does want to work to make this best for all students I also like that there are lots of ways in Waconia that parents can be involved. There is parent representation on the Teaching and Learning Advisory Council, and that's who makes curriculum decisions. We also have a very strong PTO. So I guess I would say, as parents, start by building that relationship with your school and make sure that you share your opinion and let your concerns be known. Thanks. Steve. Yeah, excellent question. I think when it came to me talking about transparency, that's huge. But if a parent is concerned about what is being taught in their classroom, their child brings that to them, the first thing they need to do is communicate with the teacher, right? I've never had
032a teacher in Waconia that when I reached out to them, I didn't get a very quick response and started a dialogue. So that's definitely square one. Like if you go directly to your school board, you're skipping a couple very key partners in the process. If the teacher and you are still not aligning, that's where you have your principals in your school, you have your superintendent. I mean, the public school is a, you know, it's an offering of our local government. That is why the school board needs to also represent the community. So if you still have severe concerns after talking to your teacher, the principal, the superintendent, you know, you can involve the school board right away or you can do it as your last resort, but we need to be the voice of the
033community and understand those concerns and make sure they're getting addressed. But I'm very confident that most concerns will end in the first couple layers of escalation at the teacher or the school level. Jesse. The first thing to do with any feedback like this is to listen. Then redirect to the proper place. If the school board is the proper place, which is most often, I think, not the case. I think starting with the teacher is probably the best place to start. Then we can address it with the superintendent. again, you should be going to the teacher. Teachers and parents need to have that partnership and need to be working together to educate our kids. That is where the synergy happens. It doesn't happen from a school board pushing down through a superintendent, pushing down through an
034administrator. It is grassroots with the kids, the parents, and the teachers. Thanks. Chad. I think if it was an anecdotal situation, specific experience with a teacher, that you just go to the teacher and you figure it out. The school board doesn't set curriculum, so we don't really play a part in that. I'm curious how curriculum is set. But generally speaking, I would go to the teacher and have a conversation with them. And I think big picture parents, I've always thought that my child's education is 90% on me and the tone I set. expectations I set at home so parental involvement is is critical with this issue or any other issue to have the teacher learning and Advisory Council is looking for members right now from you know parents to to volunteer and get involved in
035that process so there's your avenue if you're concerned about curriculum thanks Katherine So my answer will reiterate what the other candidates have said. You know, the Minnesota has state standards in place that we're required to fulfill. The curriculum is developed based on those state standards, and it's developed by the educators, the curriculum director. superintendent with a little bit of school board oversight. But if you have a personal concern, you should be always taking that to the teacher first. And if that doesn't alleviate your concern, go into the principal. And then like Kim said, there are policies in place for how to escalate your concerns even higher if it needs to go to the school board. But like the other candidate said, the teacher should be your first stop. Thank you. Kelly. Ditto. To kind of
036just do a collective response based on everybody else's, first of all, a lot of times it will just be, like has been said, a misunderstanding, something that can be easily resolved. And yes, there is a proper line of communication. It does go from the teacher to the principal, administration, superintendent, and then to the school board. I mean, that is in place. The curriculum will have been approved by a committee of parents teachers advisors Superintendent on the board so this nothing should be taught in the schools that you know should be out of line and then lastly You know, as I've said, the more I know, the more I know I don't know. And if there's something that my child is bringing home, you know, okay, well, let's find out first of all if it's a
037misunderstanding. And if it's not, then, hey, maybe I'm going to learn something new. So always be ready to, you know, challenge your own ideas and beliefs because your kids are learning something new. Thank you. The next question will go to Kelly first. Oh, exciting. Do you believe the school board has a role to play in oversight of books and resources available to kids in the school media centers? Please please explain why or why not no again, I think it goes back to letting the The schools the teachers administration determined what is best based on their knowledge they have far more resources than we do and I celebrate books. I celebrate knowledge. I celebrate access to ideas regardless of whatever shape or form they come in. If you are gracious enough to take one of my
038bookmarks, you're going to find that there's a QR code on the top and it goes to the Brooklyn Public Library Banned Books Project. So that basically it's for kids who are in, you know, areas where they have shut off access to material, shut off access to particular books. they can still get them electronically. And I guarantee you, if you have kids with electronic devices, they will get access. So basically, we should be supporting them age appropriately as they look for something to read and something to learn. But to come back to the question, no, we should not have any engagement. Thank you. Catherine. I'm also of the same mindset of no, we shouldn't have oversight of the books and resources in the media center or in the personal classrooms. That should be dictated by the
039curriculum and then also by the educators who have that classroom. That being said, the school board does have policies for escalation of concerns when you're either upset about the curriculum or the books that are available and you should be using those pathways after having those conversations with the teacher and the administration at the school. But no, not oversight of the actual. content chad i'm not a book banner um i you know i think it needs to be age age appropriate if you're teaching third graders something that's way over their head then as a parent i would have a problem with that i don't know much how much i could do as a school board member but um there's this thing called the internet that kelly just touched on that and i mean Whatever they want
040access to unless you've got controls on their phones depending on the age of the kids we're talking about here They're gonna have access to things so I don't really see the point in Banning things in the library Thank You Steve um yeah i mean i don't think the school board should be you know policing every book that goes in and out of our media centers but again we are the voice of the community and you know we are meant to hold the schools accountable starting with with our one and only employee the superintendent if the community has a large concern and there's a challenge like yeah we have a role to play do i believe a book in the library will get to that escalation point i sure hope not But yeah, I mean, you
041see it in headlines all the time, certain things, and typically those are just divisive little fire pieces to get people fired up. But yeah, kids have access to a lot of information. Parents, your role is the most important because you can't control what your kid sees, but you get to control how you get to talk to them about that and engage with them. So yeah, our role in the media center should be very limited and only on a dire emergency type situation. Kim I think it's important to remember that we have licensed media specialist teachers who have the education and the expertise in selecting age-appropriate books So I want us to have trust in our employees that they do pick appropriate books that do also challenge us and promote different ideas. In fact, I was
042looking at some policies and I found there is a media and book selection policy that we have here. And it specifically says that we should consider various viewpoints. A mission of the school is to expose children to ideas, not restrict them. So I think as we're looking at books in the media center, we have to keep that in mind. Melanie. Well, so many good key points mentioned are the same things that I wrote down here. I am not for banning books. I don't even know if there really are any books that are truly banned because of the access that we have to the internet, to Barnes & Noble, Amazon, everything's out there. But I do believe we need to protect our children. And having those age-appropriate resources and books that are available that are for
043the right minds and the right developmental age is so important. And that's really where... teachers and parents can work together to communicate if there are any concerns and just having that awareness of what books our children are looking at. I know my children are voracious readers and it's hard for me to keep track of everything that they're reading, but I do try to watch titles, watch content, and so that's a good bond of trust between parents and teachers who are the experts and that we do need to trust just to make sure those appropriate materials are in our libraries and helping our kids to succeed. Tyler it sounds like we're all pretty much in agreement on this I just you know kind of Reiterate what everyone else said it's just you know we do have
044oversight So if somebody from the community does bring a concern and it escalates to the school board's attention It's something that we would have to take seriously and look at But to my knowledge, I don't know of any books that are in our school district right now that somebody's looking to get rid of so Jesse Thank you They've said it pretty much everything. The only thing that I would add to this conversation is we do have a responsibility to maintain the policy around this. So if there are issues of inappropriate books ending up in the library, I'm not sure what that would mean. We need to be taking the responsibility of creating the policy so that doesn't happen again. But picking individual books off the shelves is definitely not something any school board should be
045doing. All right, the next question will go to Jesse first. What role does the school board have in providing LGBTQ plus students an environment where they are welcomed and encouraged to learn? Can you repeat that? I sure can. What role does the school board have in providing LGBTQ plus students an environment where they are welcomed and encouraged to learn? The school board has a responsibility for creating policies that welcome everyone, including LGBTQ plus individuals. We are responsible. This is public education. That means everyone. And that includes LBGTQ+. And that means we have to provide the supports that are needed to allow them to thrive and allow them to exist in a safe place. The actual individual... the individual things that happen and the administration of that is actually up to our superintendent and his employees.
046But it is up to us to set policies like anti-bullying policies, which are there, harassment policies, which are there. We need to make sure that those are updated, maintained, and are then enforced and used by the district. Kim. Our mission actually specifically says, as the top daily desired experience for students, I feel welcomed, safe, cared for, accepted, and supported for who I am. So that applies to all students and definitely those LGBTQ plus students. So that should be our goal to create an environment where everybody feels that they belong. As Jesse said, this is covered in our bullying policies. I looked at the bullying policy which was updated this summer and it does specifically prohibit bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity. So again, as a school board, that's where we should focus is
047making sure that we have clear policies and then it would be up to the superintendent and the principals to make sure that those are implemented. Tyler. Yeah, I guess I view this a little bit different. I don't I don't view our student population as groups I look at everyone as an individual of who they are and I feel you know I live by the golden rule treat others as you'd want to be treated Everyone wants to be treated kindly not for bullying of anyone So my answer to this question is you know it's a case-by-case basis on every student's individual need and We'll take those up as they arise, but I don't i'm not a believer in breaking everyone into little tribal groups and deciding who gets what who does this but um you know
048the school board uh we already have things in play right now that will uh that they'll have to follow and that's just how i view that question thank you chad well i'm 51 years old and it's 2022. i don't think we've ever been more inclusive and accepting of people of different sexes, genders, sexual orientation, races. I mean, we just haven't been, I mean, in my mind. So... Don't really think it's that important that we spend any more time on it frankly I think teaching kids that they're not a part of a group that they are an individual that their grit and determination and kindness and taking Responsibility for their own actions will determine their future not what color they are what sexual orientation they have or What gender they are is the right thing that
049we need to do. I believe that 99% of people including in this community are not You know looking to exclude anybody it's just a bunch of noise in my mind, so I don't plan to spend much time on it at all Katherine I think we don't want to minimize the reality that they face they have an increased percentage of bullying in schools they have an increased percentage of suicides and I believe that it is our job as a school board to make sure we're enforcing the policies that we have in place currently. I believe we need to ensure that the schools are a safe place for them and enforcing the bullying and harassment that they can face. I think there are different strategies for creating a safe and welcoming and inclusive environment. So doing those
050steps, working on reducing biases, enforcing the policies we already have in place, especially identity-based bullying, we should be making that effort to uplift all of our members of our society and making sure that the marginalized people are not left behind. Steve. I believe our school district has very good policies in regard to this around bullying, harassment, and kids needing to feel safe at school. Minnesota Department of Education does a student survey. The last one they did was 2019. They have another one coming up in 2022. And Bocconia students took it. So let's see what they had to say. So our 11th graders, 41% of them said that they were bullied at least once in the last 30 days when they took the survey. 13% said they get bullied weekly. The number one category or the
051area of bullying was weight and appearance. So I want all students to feel safe in our district. I think we have the policies in place. Us as a community, we need to work together to make sure the students that we send there are going to go and respect their peers and then support all of them, whether it be someone in your neighborhood, one of your child's friends, your child yourself. We need to support all of our kids. That's our role as parents and as a school board. I want to make sure that the parents in our community do a great job. Kelly when I think about what the students what a student needs to thrive Basically, I can think of three things basically they need to be fed They need to be healthy, and they
052need to know that they're safe in their identity. You get a kid that comes to school with those three things, and they're ready to take on the challenges that they're going to face in academics or sports or whatever because they're safe in the others. So, yes, we're talking about a particular group, but to the point that it's been made, I mean, we've got, whether it's weight or appearance or orientation, whatever, they all need to be addressed. My concern is that it starts with the adults. I think kids are, for the most part, they're pretty good about, they really could care less. If you find something in common with somebody else, you're going to get along. It's the adults who make a fuss when we find out that, oh, there's this in a classroom or there's
053that in a school or whatever. It's a learned behavior. And so if we are setting the example, if the kids are looking at us and saying, you know what, okay. The schools are all right. The students are all right. I'm all right. They're going to be okay. But if the parents are making a fuss, then that's another issue. Like we said, you know, the policies are in place. We just need to make sure they're properly enforced, and we've got, you know, good examples. Melanie. I believe every student deserves developmentally appropriate education in an environment free of discrimination, harassment, and political bias. It is the school board's responsibility to set the policy. And as a mom who's had a child that's experienced bullying, this one really touches my heart. And I believe that all of us
054sitting on this panel want... our children and all the students in Waconia to feel included and welcome despite anything that makes them different. It does start with the adults. the parents at home, teachers setting that example, and affirming the children that are doing a great job of being amazing friends and being kind. I love Bayview's slogan, safe, responsible, and kind. If we as adults could all take that on as our mantra and carry that through, it would be a beautiful world. But if we follow these policies and we advocate for a welcoming atmosphere and really spread that, I think that can help all children feel welcome. All right, the next question will go to Melanie first. How can school board policies help prepare students for a more diverse world after graduation? Repeat it one more
055time. How can school board policies help prepare students for a more diverse world after graduation? I'm thinking a little bit about specific policies that I've reviewed. Nothing very... Specific is coming to my mind as far as a policy goes The board sets the policies to make sure that the curriculum standards are high and that we have access to Excellent materials to advance whatever areas that students want to explore as students I think that's really important Giving students the opportunity to explore other career choices other than just the college route I think is really important. The school board should work to try to take businesses in town to give kids other options to possibly work in the trades and consider other vocational opportunities. And I think that's an area that we need to explore as a
056board and help to advance with the technologies and with other opportunities that are not just for the college bound students. Kim. Our state standards in history and literature both require that we teach from diverse perspectives. So as the school board, we do have the final approval of curriculum. Again, that comes from teachers and principals and then through the Teaching and Learning Advisory Council. But we need to make sure that the curriculum we approve does meet those state standards and that our teachers do expose students to a variety of viewpoints. It is really important for all students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum. That way they're going to feel connected to their learning. It's also really important that students see other viewpoints. It's important for us to learn about people who are not like us.
057I graduated from Waconia, and I feel like I had a stellar education in Waconia. However, I confess that as a white college student going to Duluth, again, also a pretty white town, I wasn't really prepared. So we need to talk about diversity. We need to realize that our world is bigger than Waconia, and it is becoming more connected. So we need to learn to appreciate others and be open to others' experiences. Steve. Yeah, I mean, the question kind of really focused on policy, which I have a hard time with, and I think that's where we go to the curriculum. And I think, you know, Cam did a good job highlighting some of the diversity of the teaching aspects. But, I mean, I think when I think of my experience through the Waconia schools and preparing
058myself for a diverse world, I think of, like, the field trips that we went to to experience different cultures, ceremonies, or understanding the history. We live in what I believe, I'm biased, but the best country in the world. And what makes America so great is we truly are a land of immigrants. And yes, there's dark chapters of our history that we definitely need to teach and not forget. But, like, we are a true melting pot of amazing people that want the best for themselves, and they seek opportunity here. And I think when we teach, when kids learn in school, you see all the different stories of people of a diverse nature and background and the great things they've accomplished. And I hope that that inspires them to, you know, start thinking bigger than what they
059can ever think. Kelly. I got to thinking, I wish I could remember word for word a comment that Carl Sagan once made, that kids are born with an inbred sense of awe and wonder, and by the time that they graduate high school, we manage to beat it out of them. You know, my short answer would be it's not responsibility of the school board. I mean, what you're addressing there, we're not. What's being addressed there? That's the responsibility of the parents. That's the responsibility of, you know, your kids are going to go to school and they're going to get that diverse education. They're going to get exposed to all these ideas, but what's going to happen when they come home? You know, are you going to talk to them and encourage them and say, hey, what
060did you learn today? Hey, that's awesome. That's neat. You know, let's read some more about that. Or are they just going to be left with they do a diorama and then they're done? You know, I've been fortunate. that I've been able to do some traveling. I've seen places and met people, learned languages, eaten food. There's just so much to see in the world. And I have tried to pass that on to my family and my kids especially. I've taken them on travels when we could. And grateful they've had that exposure. It's up to us, again. It's up to the adults to keep that sense of wonder and diversity, expose them to those ideas. So that even after they leave high school and they're in college, we're still learning. Catherine. So I think we can proactively.
061teach about different kinds of people and build empathy and understanding through learning. We should be providing an inclusive learning environment which benefits all students. You know, our community, our school is going to become more diverse and the world outside is more diverse. So teaching our students compassion, empathy, and understanding of how to live and work together is a life skill they're going to need. In addition, trying to prepare our students for life after graduation can be difficult. I know in the high school, Asked a guidance counselor because I was curious about this they have advisory and as part of that advisory They create an online portfolio where they can take their career and interest assessments and that will help them help guide them on college discussions or vocational discussions or how they can go about
062Exploring those interests in the school with a guidance counselor one-on-one Tyler I would agree with Kelly. On the policy point, I don't think it's the board's place to teach students that. I think it does fall on the parents. But to Kim's point, I do believe we have oversight with curriculum to make sure that various viewpoints are being taught for whatever the board power is that we have to help the district get students outside of the Waconia bubble for... on-the-job training Internships things of that nature outside of the classroom would be a great thing that I would push for I'm not sure what our role would play in that but that'd be something that I would advocate for Jesse lots of good ideas up here a policy is difficult because it can only do so much.
063We need parents to be involved. We need teachers and we need curriculum, which again isn't developed by policy per se. All of those go together to prepare our kids for the diversity they're going to face. I mean, we need to be preparing our kids to leave Waconia. Most of them are not going to necessarily stay here. And it is a much more diverse world that they are going to be stepping into, both economic diversity, racial diversity, gender diversity. There's a lot out there, and they need to be ready for that. Can we do things in policy to support that? I'm not sure. We can do things like the anti-bullying. That will help. We can do things like making sure the curriculum is Appropriate and is meeting state standards. But other than other than that, I'm
064not sure what we can do policy wise Chad This school board policy piece I agree with everybody. I don't see where we really set policy that that can help in that regard I think when you send children out into the real world, it's largely on the parents to prepare them for that real world. At least with my three boys, and I would advocate for this for the schools as well, we teach them to judge people by the character, you know, the content of their character, and not to see race and gender and sexual orientation and other things that bring about bullying and the topic here. I realize those things happen, but I think the focus that we have on them today is creating what we have today. Again, I don't believe that most people are
065racist or naive about the real world out there. Does it happen? Absolutely. It's here. It's going to be here forever. But our focus on it today is, I think, counterproductive. All right. The next question will go to Steve first. Are there any current policies within District 110 that you disagree with and why? Yes. So I'll just pick one because I've talked about it before and there's actually, so the one policy I would change, I don't know the exact number or perfectly worded, but transparency is a big part of my platform. That podium right there, the community gets to come talk to the school board every single month. And during COVID, well, people weren't going there. They were on Zoom. But when our community comes to speak to their elected representatives, no one gets to see
066it unless you're in one of those chairs that you're in. So if you're not present, you have no recollection. There is a senior veteran that came up and challenged, why does the school board not pledge allegiance to that flag before the beginning of the meeting? And I was there for that meeting, and I'm glad I was, because ever since that meeting, the school board, we all stand and we pledge our allegiance to that flag. And I wish that that would have been recorded and made public, because I just think of that man's grandkids and how proud they could be of him. I'm getting emotional, but honestly, like transparency is huge. Community concern is huge. We need to make sure that our policies allow for that transparency to be on demand, listened to from people that
067can't be at the meeting for multiple reasons. That's a huge thing that I want to change. Thank you. Jesse. I have read a lot of the policy, but there is a lot of policy yet to go. There are lots of pages of policy. I do not have a specific one that I can call out that I disagree with per se. I have a long way to go, so I'm not saying I'm not going to find it. Tyler. Yeah, I guess my short answer originally originally if you would have called me first was none But now that Steve Steve brought up that I'd love to I'd love to have the public comments recorded But you know, I guess I don't know every single policy that the school the school district has currently With the finances being
068a huge issue and the lack of transparency when you go on our website You don't see the agenda minutes published in a timely manner. I think they're supposed to be published at a certain amount of time, and they're not. So there's a lot of information that you can't get that I think should be available to the community. So depending on what that policy says today, I would work to change it to make sure that we're hitting deadlines of all this stuff being available to the community. Catherine. So, so far, I've been focusing on the curriculum policies, and I have no issues with those. I did want to mention we do have policies on anti-bullying, but I had a hard time finding the process of reporting. So that is something I would like to see and
069change on the website, but so far, that would be it. Melanie? I love learning and studying, and I've been, my constituents here would agree that I've spent hours and hours listening to League of Women's voters. Recordings and also studying the policies. It's fascinating to me and I love to learn and Like Tyler mentioned it is gonna take a lot of time to really understand and see the details in the policies But that's the job of the elected official to be the expert. I agree with Steve I would also want to have the community comments at the beginning of board meetings Accessible to the public. I think it's important to know what the pulse of the community is and to really have an opportunity to see that. There have been times during school board meetings that
070I've attended that somebody's had their cell phone and been recording live. So let's make that comment piece public and have that transparency with the board and the community. Kelly. I agree with the statements that have been made so far. Number one, that comments should be recorded. If we have that commitment to be transparent and accountable to the community, then we need to be able to remember what they said. So we talked about this with my wife. Basically, we need to make it so that when you come and you present a comment, you've got something prepared that you can hand in. That basically we can then take and put into an archive of some sort. Otherwise, I will need a stenographer I also agree with Katie that you know, the policies are in place for example
071the bullying We just need to make sure that they're enforced properly. So but other than that none Chad also have not read all the policies but and probably would have answered zero if I had called on first, but after hearing what I've heard, I would agree that we should have transparency around what's happening up here and just general transparency around the participation of the school board and with the superintendent so that the community knows what's going on. Kim. When I was on the school board, I read and wrote a lot of policy. I've looked at quite a few of Waconia's. There are a lot. And I'm going to be real honest with you, they're not real interest in reading. What I will tell you is that if you look at a policy from any school
072districts, they're going to look pretty similar. And that's because a lot of those policies are actually model policies that come from the Minnesota School Board Association. And that's great. Like, why should we reinvent the wheel? But I do think it's really important that we re-look at those and make sure that they actually fit us. So there are probably improvements that we can make to a lot of policies to make sure that they're specific to our students and our needs. And that's why there is a procedure in place to review policies and make updates. But again, there's nothing specific that jumps out at me as far as like I would change that policy. The next question will go to Kim first. As a leader, what will you do to ensure effective communication with your constituents, school
073staff and administration, and fellow board members? I think the key part to effective communication is just being willing to listen. I know that there are lots of different perspectives in our community and on our school board, and I know that we're going to disagree, but I will tell you that I will be committed to hearing your perspective, taking your opinion into account, and hopefully finding some common ground. I do believe that we all have the same goals. We want our students to be successful. So we might have different ideas of how to get there, but I really feel that talking to each other and listening to each other, we can learn a lot and probably find out that we have more similarities than we have differences. I also feel like... Communication has to be two
074ways. So I will listen, but I will also make sure that I effectively communicate back to you. I think a lot of us have talked about transparency on the board, and I think I would work to make sure that it is clear what the board is actually doing and seeking your input so that you're aware of what's happening and understand what the different things mean. Melanie. Yeah, communication, effective communication is absolutely essential to provide trust and to build trust with the community and to build trust within the board members that are going to be sitting here working together, solving problems, really being an integral part of what the schools are made out of. I'm going to echo a little bit of what Kim said, being an active listener. I absolutely love this question because I
075love hearing people's different points of view. I can definitely learn from someone who comes from a different background or has different experiences than I do. So that is a huge piece is being a great listener and building that transparency in being willing to take your words and put them into action. So instead of saying, oh, I will definitely listen and get back to you. Following through because actions speak louder than words. Catherine. To build upon what the other candidates have said, I think we can go one step further than transparency and have that justification or the rationale for why you made that decision we made. I think that can help build trust within the community. I know masking is a good example of this. Being able to articulate the justification for why you made that
076decision and how it met the needs of the majority of the students in the district I think is key. Being able to listen and have that feedback loop also is needed. It doesn't feel like we have that right now, that we have public comment like we said, but then there's never a response. There's never anything given to those community members to say, we thought about what you said, here's our response. So being available, making sure we're communicating, and just making sure we're listening to what our community needs and wants. Tyler. I'm gonna break this question into two parts. So for the community aspect, I would have an open-door policy. You know, I'm sure everyone on the board has busy lives, but I would do my best to respond to emails, phone calls, whatever it may
077be, running into the grocery store and answer questions. We're all running on various platforms of what we, you know, would like to accomplish and how we want to move the school district forward. So obviously at the end of a four-year term, if we were fortunate enough to earn these seats, our constituents are going to hold us accountable to whether or not they felt like they were heard. To the staff, teacher aspect of communication, that's really lacking in this district. We hosted a listen and learn earlier a few months back with some teachers in the district. It's very obvious they did not feel listened or heard by the current board, but I think there was a lot of miscommunication in the way that the board and teacher relationships were kind of harnessed between the administration and
078them. I would hope with the new administrator that we would be able to walk the halls, meet the teachers, and create that open dialogue and relationship because right now I don't feel like they feel that they have that as of today. Chad I built two successful service based companies by hiring great people communicating openly and honestly with them within within our business and having an attitude of taking care of our customers with kind of a raving fans approach to service. And I would look at the parents and students and teachers of this community as my customers in this new role, and I would take that same attitude towards... you know, serving them that I have in the past. And it's just about being present, being honest, being candid, being on a team and hearing people
079out and listening and working towards a solution. I know those are just all buzzwords, but, you know, specific issues in front of me as a board member, I'll put my best foot forward with whatever those issues are and definitely hear everybody out along the way. Jesse. having also owned a large business you learn very quickly that you need to listen and listen a lot and then listen a little bit more. That is the start of communication. And through that listening, understanding what the other person needs. They may not be able to articulate that. And that's one thing I learned as I built my company was figuring out what the person at the other side actually needed. That is the way I communicate. I listen. I figure out what they're really saying, and then I respond.
080And the response is extremely important. You have to provide feedback as well. Kelly. Kind of piggybacking on what Jesse said, in the role that I play in my day-to-day work, I talk with... You know, the hourly workers, I talk with the, you know, the VP, CEO, CIO, whoever. And I have to adjust my message depending on who it is I'm working with. If it's a technical issue, yeah, I've got to tell the president of the company, okay, now we need to do a thing. We need to, you know, let me walk you through it. You know your audience. We've talked about there's a pathway that needs to be followed if a parent has a concern. Talk with a teacher. Talk with the principal, administration. And if it gets to us, then there's an issue. If
081we... also, as we've talked about, demonstrate that we are accountable, that we are going to listen, that we would like you to put your message, your concerns in a format that we can record. Maybe that'll help them to maybe dial it back a little bit and say, okay, what's important for me to say? So that when they give it to us, and we keep that record now because we've got a policy of retaining that information, that then we can... look and we can thoughtfully come up with a response. Okay, how are we going to respond to this person in the community? So it's just knowing who you're talking to, tuning the message, and letting the person know that they're being heard. Steve? Yeah, I think a lot of great things have already been said. I'm
082going to kind of... Take a slightly different angle since I don't want to repeat a lot of the things. So when I think of like effective communication, obviously listening and having that open back and forth dialogue and respect is a foundation. But what's effective? Like effective to me is results, right? So we have a lot of challenges facing this district. We have, you know, test scores that over the last three years have been impacted from the pandemic. We have financial hole that we're digging ourselves out of. so effective communication to me will be this next board to have that you know listening and open dialogues and taking a lot of ideas from their community and trying to find ways to implement them like when it comes to yes you know we can only trim so
083much fat and then we hit the meat like we're definitely going to hit that point so like what are other ideas that the community it's not just you know this group of people or the school board that is this origin of all great ideas like we have thousands of people in this community that I'm sure if they were listened to and we took some action and tried some things, experimented a little bit, we can really actually turn ISD 110 into an example for the whole state to follow. All right, we've got time for one more question, and then we'll have our closing statements. And this will go to Catherine first, and it's another communication-related question. As you've been campaigning, how have you and how will you, in the remaining few weeks, engage with community members
084who disagree with major tenants of your platform? So I haven't had anyone reach out yet, but my email is on my website. So I encourage anyone who has any questions about my platform to reach out. And I think civil conversation is how I would handle it. In my current role, that's what I do every day. I'm always constantly in those professional disagreements and trying to come up to a possible solution. So I would do the same thing for this. I would still have that dialogue, ask them what their concerns are, and then walk them through what my opinion is. And we may not be aligned, and that's okay. We can still have that civil dialogue and try to maybe get some alignment. Kelly. I have been fortunate that I have not had any issues. But
085again, it's just civil dialogue. I pride myself on the fact that in my work environment, I've always been able to get along with people. I can make things work. I can communicate. I can listen. And I can learn. Steve? Yeah, I love this question. The board is representation of the community. So I hope the community challenges all of us. I know I've met with people in this room that we have very differing beliefs and ideas. And I think we had great conversations. I've had a lot of challenging questions via email and I've engaged with them directly, been honest. And I feel like the dialogue that I've had through my campaign site's been fantastic. My biggest thing, I actually prefer. to have someone challenge me versus like high five me and say like you're bright you're
086so smart i love you because like you don't learn when someone's just affirming you you learn by being challenged so i plan on definitely engaging with as many people that want to challenge me as possible because that number one give me insight into our community and number two i'll learn more jesse um i i have engaged with uh people that i believe disagree with some of my um some of my policies or some of my ideas. But those conversations have all been fruitful. And I think for both actors in those conversations. Again, I go back to listening, active listening, and then reading what they're really saying. What is the real concern? Quite often... We get wrapped up in what we're saying that we're not actually listening. And I will continue to engage with anyone in
087the community via email, my website, Facebook, however you want to engage. I will talk to you. And we can talk, and we don't have to agree at the end. At the end of a discussion, we don't have to agree. But we will remain civil as well. Kim. Yeah, I'll go off of some of what Jesse had said I have had people reach out to me and ask me some tough questions And I've been clear and direct and honest. I guess I'm not giving people the answer I think they want to hear in order for them to vote for me So I have shared my position and engaged them in the conversation. We haven't tried to evade those tough questions. I want to have that dialogue. And then really what I've been trying to figure out
088is what is the real concern? What is their fear that they think will happen if different policies are implemented? and how could we resolve that problem. And it's often not necessarily related to that initial question that they had asked. So engaging, being transparent, and not just trying to seek your votes. MS. Chad. Civil dialogue, for sure. I'm an open book, ready to talk to anybody who wants to better understand why I've teamed up with Melanie and Tyler, and we've got a website, together110.com, and stand by the positions that we have on that website. So, of course, civil dialogue, but ultimately, we're going to agree to disagree, like Jesse said, in some cases. I'm not here to make everybody happy. I want to represent the community and do my best. I think that's the real world.
089Melanie. This is such an important question because we are going to meet people and receive feedback and questions that are going to be difficult to answer. I've had experience with this during this campaign, and what I tried to do was to be honest, to put my best foot forward, to respond with accusatory statements rather than back away or choose not to respond. I think it's important that we take action and we do. correspond even if it's difficult. In this particular matter, I offered to meet this individual in person. I gave them my private cell phone number and I really love talking with people in person. I think there's some things lost in social media and there's some divisiveness that goes on and there's different ways to interpret. things when they're in writing, even by text
090message. And it's so important to try to sit across from the table from someone and just have a conversation and be able to relate as humans, as people, and to be able to say, I think we do have a lot in common. We all want safe, happy, healthy students, and we don't want to feel like our opinions or viewpoints are not being heard. Tyler. I think I'm echoing what everyone else is kind of saying here. Thankfully, most of the people reaching out and communicating with us has been positive, but would be lying if we haven't got people reaching out with disagreements. I'm with Melanie that I prefer meeting in person. I think a lot can be misconstrued or taken out of context via... any form of writing. So I have engaged in email conversation. People
091typically don't like that response. And then I offer up an opportunity to meet in person to discuss further. So that's kind of been my mantra. And that's how I continue to proceed moving forward. Alright, we'll now proceed with closing statements and you'll each have a minute and a half to summarize your qualifications and positions and we will begin with Tyler. Alright, well thanks everyone for coming out tonight. Love to see so many people engaged in this process. Candidate for District 110 School Board, would love your support. We've got our together110.com website. You can look into us even further, reach out with... any questions, comments, concerns you may have. I think you've heard a lot of different viewpoints in how the board could potentially run here starting after the November election. So hopefully what you heard
092from me today is enough to earn your vote. But happy to introduce myself with you after this event tonight and answer any other questions you may have. Thank you. Melanie. Thank you so much for your time tonight. It's really been a pleasure and I'm just really proud of our school system And I'm proud of the teachers and the foundation that our city has built This is why my husband Nathan I chose to move here 15 years ago and build a home in this community and raise our children here I believe that my 20 years of patient care experience in an acute, vigorous environment has prepared me to meet with people of different backgrounds, different personalities, and different viewpoints, and really collaborate with the board and the administration. I would bring a positive and unique background
093to the board. I've always been a professional part-time in our community and I've been a stay-at-home mom and I've had the opportunity to serve for many community organizations and really dedicate my time to the city of Waconia. It's a wonderful school district but like all places there are challenges and we need to get the statutory operating debt in line. We need to build communication with the board and with the community. And it's time for parents to have a voice in their students' education, and I want to be that voice. I would be so honored and pleased if you would vote for me, Melanie Hagan, for school board. Kelly. I am excited at the prospect of being elected to the school board. The thing that I would bring would be... I am a team player. I
094have worked on numerous projects over the years and I can engage regardless of the team or the skill that is needed. I can engage. I can get the job done. I can communicate. I can bring cookies because I think we need more cookies based on how I hear some of the meetings go. I can bring peace, is what I'm trying to say, because I think that we need a moderating presence on the board, somebody who is eager and anxious for the kids to learn, but also is eager and anxious for the adults in the room to get along. I love learning. I have an absolute thirst for knowledge, and I want to see that same thing given to the kids and whatever means it takes. Like I say, we need to work with our legislators.
095We need to work with the finance director, make sure that the money is there for the teachers and the students so they have the resources that they need. Steve. Thanks for everyone in the room. Thanks again to the League of Women Voters and Community Dev for putting this together. And I know there's probably hundreds of you online that are watching this on demand. So thank you for taking the time to educate your vote. Servant leadership is my life. One of the reasons why I love my job is I pour myself into the people I get to serve. I try to make sure our company's a better place to work and that my... people that I get to serve for employees are growing their careers. I want to pour myself more into this community and serve
096all of you and help our students and parents and teachers. I think I have a lot of experience and ideas to do that. But like, I think you've heard a lot of great ideas tonight. I think there's a lot of the questions that said the school board necessarily isn't the like main source of the answer, but. And I said this before at a different forum, but why I really want people to reach out to all of us and find your hot topics and challenge us, not just me, all of us, is because like what you heard in a lot of the answers, the school board has a role. I think we can all do. Pretty good job at that. But when you really need to rely on your public servant for what your issue is,
097you want to make sure that that person aligns with you and is going to have your back. So I go to minor110.com. You can learn all about me and definitely reach out and connect if you have questions. Thank you. Jesse. Well, first I want to thank the League of Women Voters and everyone for watching and attending here tonight. It is so important to be an informed voter and make an intelligent vote. I can't stress that enough. I don't know that I'm the flashiest candidate, and I'm definitely not going to be doing any grandstanding. I'm here because I want to do the work, the work of... reviewing finances, writing policy, working with the superintendent, advocating for the district. Those are the things that I want to do, and those are the things that I have talent
098with. I've proven that I can do that in multiple different areas. I believe that that is what the board needs right now. If you believe that that's what the board needs, is someone to actually go and do the work, then please vote for me, Jesse Bergstrom. If you want to know more about how I stand on some of the issues, go to bergstromfor110.org. One or the other. I don't even remember off the top of my head. .org. There you go. Thanks. Check it out. You can email me there. You can contact me there. If elected, I will dedicate myself to making ISD 110 the best district it can be and advocating for our kids at the state as well. Chad. All right. Thank you to the League of Women Voters and to the community for
099being engaged and caring about this. I think that is fantastic. You know, we're probably a month away from the election, so we're in the heat of the campaign. Everybody's up here wanting to serve and certainly get elected. But on November 9th, the real work begins, and the reality is going to set in for those of us who are elected. And while I might be a blunt communicator, I'm a fair person who thinks I can add a lot to the team. So I hope that you vote for me. I'm looking to, you know, learn and lead and help solve problems with... the rest of the team and you can find out more about the stuff that I stand for at Together110.com and again that name is A-L-M-J-E-L-D. Thank you. Catherine. So I want to thank everyone
100that took the time to attend or listen to the recording later and the League of Women Voters for hosting this forum. I think it's been an excellent opportunity for all of our different voices to be heard. I'm running because I wanted to make sure that the entire community is represented. I believe we need to have a school board filled with people with different opinions. If we have a board with different ideas and perspectives, with people passionate about their ideas, we can bring more solutions to the table and ensure that the needs of the community are met. So I'm looking forward to what the next couple of months bring. And if you have any questions, please reach out. It's Catherine Soti. So thank you. Kim. As others have said, thank you so much for being here.
101It truly shows your commitment to public education. I hope that this helped you see why my experience and my values make me the ideal candidate for the school board. If you are willing to support me, I ask that you pick up a yard sign from the atrium. Also, share what you have learned with your family, friends, and neighbors. It is the word of mouth and people's recommendations that really matter. If you're still not sure who to vote for, Please grab literature from all of us. We all have websites. I encourage you to do your research. Your informed vote does matter. Thank you candidates you were all so respectful of the time limits tonight I didn't have to interrupt any of you one time and that's that's rare I Would like to remind you that the
102views expressed in this forum are those of the candidates not those of the League of Women Voters Sponsorship of this forum is not an endorsement of any candidate by League of Women Voters Eastern Carver County and now for our closing Here are Tiffany Nelson and Darcia Deer King Waconia Community Education and the League of Women Voters would like to thank you all for coming tonight and our online audience for viewing. We would especially like to thank our candidates for being part of the democratic process by running for office and for being willing to serve our community. Finally, we thank our facility hosts and our members here for volunteering tonight. The League studies issues important to our members and to the health of our communities. If you are interested in finding out about what we do
103and how you can make a difference, please pick up a membership brochure at the registration table or visit us at lwvmn.org. Membership is open to all people age 16 and older. Individual household and student memberships are available. You can find more information about candidates and about voting at mnvotes.gov. and vote411.org. This forum has been recorded and the link will be available in the League of Women Voters Eastern Carver County Facebook page. Good night, thank you for coming, and remember to vote on November 8th.