Filing dates set for school board election

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

July 22, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

In a whirlwind, 30-minute meeting, the Bemidji School Board completed its regular business Monday night -- establishing dates for the upcoming School Board filing period and the district levy hearings to be held this winter.

Two seats, a three-year and a five-year seat, will be up for election this fall, and although there is a possibility the two top vote-getters will not win the positions, the election will be run much the same as previous years.

Due to new state legislation, the candidates must file separately for both seats, meaning that a losing candidate receiving more votes for the five-year seat than a winning candidate in the three-year race still will not win a seat on the board.

Just such an instance happened during the spring school board elections in Laporte, and because of that and other irregularities a suit has been filed in district court asking to invalidate the election.

"It doesn't pass the test of common sense," Bemidji Superintendent Rollie Morud said of the new election rules.

Candidates can file beginning Aug. 26 for the election, and the filing period will close Sept. 9 at 4:30 p.m. when the district's office closes.

To be considered a legitimate candidate, an affidavit of candidacy must be filed and a $2 filing fee must be paid to the district clerk by the closing date.

Other regulations include that a candidate must be an eligible voter, at least 21 years old by the time they will assume office and must have been a resident of the school district in which the candidate is seeking office for at least 30 days prior to the election.

In other business, the board:

• Adopted kindergarten through fifth grade language arts and ninth through 12th grade English curriculums.

• Accepted a $50,000 grant from the stat Department of Children, Families and Learning to be used at the Northwest Minnesota Juvenile Training Center.

• Approved the 1997-98 High School student handbook.

• Approved an amended resolution setting the initial levy hearing date for 7 p.m. Dec. 1 and the continuation hearing for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 15.