St. Cloud school board member resigns

ST. CLOUD – A recently elected school board member here is stepping down due to health concerns.

Bruce Hentges, who was elected to the St. Cloud school board in November with the highest vote count of seven candidates, resigned from his seat at the end of January.

“It’s a heart-cardiovascular system issue that I’ve recently been diagnosed with,” Hentges, 74, said Tuesday. “It’s treatable, but my father died at age 45 from an aortic aneurysm and I’ve had two brothers who have died from heart issues.”

Last spring, Hentges retired from his position as executive director of the nonprofit St. Cloud Local Education and Activities Foundation, an organization Hentges helped found in 1993 to promote and raise money for extracurricular activities in the district.

Hentges also previously worked in the school district as a teacher, coach, activities director, transportation director, assistant principal at both Apollo and Tech high schools, and principal at Westwood Elementary School.

Hentges served two terms on the board, from 2008-2012 and 2014-2018. He said he’s disappointed to need to step down but said he feels confident the district is in good hands.

“I think we’ve got a strong school board, great administration, a strong teaching staff,” he said. “It isn’t like I’m needed to keep the system afloat or anything, and it seemed like the right time for me — at the recommendation of my doctor and my wife — to step back a little bit.”

On Wednesday, the school board voted to fill the open seat temporarily until the district can hold a special election in November. The candidate elected this fall will then serve the remainder of the term, which runs through the end of 2028.

Board Chair Shannon Haws suggested former board member Al Dahlgren be appointed to serve in the interim because he came in fifth in the November election in which the top four were elected to the board. The board voted unanimously to appoint Dahlgren to the seat.

Dahlgren, 65, lives in St. Joseph and owns the Once Upon a Child retail store in Waite Park. He previously served three terms on the school board through last year, with two years as chair, four years as the vice chair and four as the district representative to the Minnesota School Boards Association.

“I’m excited to be back on,” Dahlgren said Wednesday after the vote. “I’ll be able to step right back in. I’ve only been gone 30 days.”