Vacant Minneapolis school board seat draws 25 applicants

The Minneapolis school board has 25 candidates — mostly parents and educators — to choose from next week when the members move to fill a vacant at-large seat.

Current Board Member Adriana Cerrillo said she was "excited" to see so many qualified candidates.

"There is so much interest for community to be involved in education," she said.

The position opened in March, when Josh Pauly announced his immediate resignation during the teachers strike. Pauly cited broken trust among board members and between district leadership and the community as the reason for his decision.

The appointee will serve out the rest of Pauly's term, which ends Jan. 2, 2023, as one of the board's nine voting members.

Sixteen of the 25 applicants expressed plans to run for that at-large seat in the school board election this fall.

The majority of the applicants — a group that includes current and former teachers, parents and one former board member — also pointed to the need to repair relationships that broke down during the three-week teachers strike.

"Trust is severely strained and must be rebuilt," Pamela Costain wrote in her application. Costain was elected to the Minneapolis school board in 2006 and served until 2010 when she left to lead the nonprofit Achieve Minneapolis. Costain said she is not planning to run in the school board election this fall.

In her application, Lisa Beckman,co-chair of the site council at Jenny Lind Elementary, emphasized working with the community to restore confidence in the board and district leadership. She said she wants to see the district become "more accountable, inclusive and academically competitive."

Other applicants, including Sonya Emerick, an MPS parent, and Collin Beachy, a special education teacher in the district, wrote about prioritizing inclusivity and accessibility, namely for students of color and students receiving special education services.

A handful of the candidates wrote about wanting to narrow academic disparities in the district, including Abbi Dion, an MPS parent and teacher in Robbinsdale schools. Harley Meyer, a parent, substitute teacher and member of the district's Black Parent Advisory Council, wrote that school board candidates and parents all want improved outcomes for students.

"The point is, the district doesn't have to be the way it is," Meyer wrote. "I know the achievement gap in math and reading is not the students."

The applicants, who must be at least 21 and live in Minneapolis, were asked to list the skills and experiences they would bring to the board and to explain why they wanted the appointment. They were also asked to say whether or not they planned to run for the seat in the upcoming election.

The full list of candidates: Harley Meyer, Jeffrey Williams, Janet Freeberg-Lawson, Susan Engh, Lisa Beckman, Abbi Dion, Pamela Costain, Bryn Peterson, Cynthia Booker, Britt Heglund, Sonya Emerick, Kate Winter, Lynne Crockett, Dave Adams, Anastasia Flemming, Julia Becker, Karn Engelsgjerd, Jaton White, Jennifer Davis, Steve Richter, Collin Beachy, Abdullahi Abdi, Meghann Gordon, Aron Lipkin, Ruby Hogen-Chin.

Their applications are available online at bit.ly/3w6Vtkx as part of the school board agenda.

The board at its Tuesday meeting will also be voting on the contracts with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Educational Support Professionals and whether to name Rochelle Cox as interim superintendent for next school year.