School board members are sworn into office

Three new members of the Elk River Area School Board and one incumbent were sworn in on Monday, Jan. 9. The board welcomed new members John Anderson, Mindy Freiberg and Sarah Hamlin. They and incumbent Sara Weis were elected this past November.

They were sworn in by Superintendent Dan Bittman. Each of them were also asked to read and sign a code of ethics.

Current Board Chair Holly Thompson was approved by the board to serve as the chair again.

“I am happy to serve again as your chair this year,” Thompson said. “I look forward to working with all of you and I look forward to a successful year.”

Bittman said in a press release district officials are proud of the leadership Thompson has shown over the past two years as board chair, and “we’re excited as we work together on our new strategic plan and other initiatives that will guide our district in the years to come. Holly does a fantastic job representing our parents, families and staff in her role on our Board.”

Board member Joel Nelson was elected vice chair, while Weis was elected as treasurer and Hamlin as clerk.

For clerk, Freiberg nominated Anderson and Weis nominated Hamlin. Both accepted the nominations and both nominations were put to a vote. Freiberg was the lone vote for Anderson, with the rest of the board voting against, while the roles were reversed in the vote for Hamlin – the board approved Hamlin’s nomination, with Freiberg being the sole vote against.

The board also approved its board meeting schedule for 2023 and the committee assignments for its members at the organizational meeting. 

ISD 728 School Board meeting calendar

The rest of the board meeting schedule for 2023 is:

• Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

• Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. (regular meeting)

• Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

• March 13 at 6 p.m. (regular meeting)

• March 27 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

• April 10 at 6 p.m. (regular meeting)

• April 24 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

• May 8 at 6 p.m. (regular meeting)

• May 22 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

• June 12 at 6 p.m. (regular meeting)

• June 26 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

• July 12 at 9 a.m. (special meeting or work session)

• Aug. 14 at 6 p.m. (regular meeting)

• Aug. 28 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

• Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. (regular meeting)

• Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

• Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. (regular meeting)

• Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

• Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. (regular meeting)

• Nov. 27 at 5:30 p.m. (special meeting or work session)

Committee assignments made

The committee assignments are:

•Minnesota State High School League rep: Sara Weis.

•Superintendent Evaluation Committee: Holly Thompson, Joel Nelson, Christi Tullbane.

•Northwest Suburban Integration School District Board: Mindy Freiberg.

•Project Oversight Team: John Anderson, Sara Weis.

•Association of Metropolitan School Districts: Sarah Hamlin.

Board to keep pay at same level in 2023

The School Board also decided to keep its compensation for school board members the same in 2023 as in 2022 at $7,000 annually, with the chair making $8,000 annually.

Board compensation increased last year for the first time since January 2002, when pay was cut during budget cuts in the district. The increase was $1,000 annually for members and $1,100 for the chair at that time.

Freiberg suggested lowering the pay by about $500 per member, but the rest of the board voted to keep the compensation the same.

Nelson said the compensation was in line with or lower than similarly sized districts.