School Board to consider filing dates for 1997 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 21, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

The Bemidji School Board will consider a resolution establishing school board filing dates for the 1997 general election, and will also preside over an informational meeting concerning the decision to build two new schools at 6:30 p.m. tonight in the High School Green Room.

The regular meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and topping the agenda is a resolution setting the filing rules for the upcoming school board election.

According to the proposed resolution, candidates could begin filing Aug. 26 and the filing period would close Sept. 9 at 4:30 p.m. when the district office closes. To be considered a legitimate candidate, and affidavit of candidacy must be filed and a $2 filing fee must be paid to the district clerk by the closing date.

Other regulations would include that a candidate be an eligible voter, at least 21 years old by the time of assuming office and must have been a resident of the school district in which the candidate is seeking office.

Two board positions will be up for election this fall, a five-year term and a three-year term.

The board also will preside over an informational meeting concerning the district's Facilities Committee's recommendation to build a new high school and elementary school. the meeting will begin at 7 p.m., interrupting the regular board meeting which will be reconvened upon the finish of the other discussion.

The meeting will outline the process followed by the Facilities Committee in reaching the recommendation, expand upon the proposed solutions and provide an opportunity for the public to comment, according to district information.

In other business, the board will:

• Consider adoption of the kindergarten through fifth grade language arts and the ninth through 12th grade English curriculums.

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

• Consider approving the 1997-98 High School student handbook.

• Consider setting the initial levy hearing date for 7 p.m. Dec. 1 and the continuation hearing for 7 p.m. Dec. 8.