SARTELL, Minn. — The nearly two dozen Sartell-St. Stephen school district jobs left in limbo last week remain in limbo after a Tuesday meeting where the three board members holding up the contracts didn’t show up.
After months of bickering, the six-member board did not approve the contracts of 21 employees last week when Emily Larson, Jen Smith and Scott Wenshau again voted against the motion, saying they want the contracts to be voted on individually instead of all together.
Interim Superintendent Tom Lee warned board members that the employees would lose their jobs if the contracts weren’t approved by July 1, which prompted Board Chair Tricia Meling to set a special meeting Tuesday to vote on the contracts. But without a majority of members present, no action could be taken.
“I am deeply saddened,” she said Tuesday. “These positions are vital and the district will need to consider whether it can maintain all activities and services.”
Meling, along with board members Matt Moehrle and Jason Nies, took a short recess just after 6 p.m. to try to call the no-show members. They returned to tell the room of more than 100 people — many wearing blue in support of the employees whose contracts were being voted on — that they could not reach their absent colleagues.
“If members could not attend in person, they had the option to appear here today remotely. Not one board member requested [that],” she said.

Larson, Smith and Wenshau released a joint statement on social media Sunday that reiterated their desire to vote on the contracts separately and called on Lee to cancel Tuesday’s meeting due to scheduling conflicts. They have not responded to requests for comment by phone.
“We are resolute in our commitment to settle these contracts promptly while assuring our district remains accountable through its elected school board,” read the statement, which cited a state statute that says school boards have the “authority to govern, manage and control the district.”