School Board Recognition Week

Red Lake County, MN— The Minnesota School Boards Association has set February 15-19 as School Board Recognition Week in Minnesota as a time to build awareness and understanding of the vital function an elected board of education plays in our society. Red Lake County Central ISD 2906 & Red Lake Falls School District #630 are joining all public school districts across the state to celebrate School Board Recognition Week to honor our local board members for their commitment to their schools, communities, families and children.

“It takes strong schools to build a strong community, and these men and women devote countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child learn at a higher level, Superintendent James Guetter said. “They make the tough decisions every month and spend many hours studying education issues and regulations in order to provide the kind of accountability our citizens expect.”

Guetter said the key work of school boards is to raise student achievement by:

• Creating a vision for what the community wants the school district to be and for making student achievement the top priority;

• Establishing standards for what students will be expected to learn and be able to do;

• Ensuring progress is measured to be sure the district’s goals are achieved and students are learning at expected levels;

• Being accountable for their decisions and actions by continually tracking and reporting results;

• Creating a safe, orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach;

• Forming partnerships with others in the community to solve common problems; and

• Focusing attention on the need for continuous improvement by questioning, refining and revising issues related to student achievement.

“School board members give the citizens of each School District a voice in educational, financial and policy decision making of the Schools. Even though we make a special effort to show our appreciation in February, their contribution is a year-round commitment.”

The board members serving the RLF School District and their years of service are as follows: 

Amanda Cardinal(4), Reed Engelstad(15), Brad Johnson(3), Wayne Hanson(9), Andy Knott(3), Linda Schultz(1) and Chair Mike Swendra(21).

The board members serving the RLCC School District and their years of service are as follows: 

Chair Matt Kolstoe(8), Darby Trontvedt(6), Lowell Hamrum(7), Dani Paradis(10), Dave Person(8), Tom Bray(2), Marcella Melby(2), Pam Paradis(1) and Jason Cater(4).