By Aaron Vehling

The North Branch school board is expected to approve changing school elections from odd years to even years at its Thursday meeting (Feb. 10).

The change will mean that school board elections will be moved from this fall to fall of 2006. As a result, board membersí terms will be extended one year.

Superintendent Bob Stepaniak presented the issue to the board at a work session Feb. 3.
He said holding school elections in even years would be significantly more cost effective than the current practice.
The district can spend anywhere between $7,500 to $10,000 on an odd-year election, Stepaniak said.
On even years school elections could be added to the ballot as part of a general election and the county would be responsible for a majority of the costs, he said. In November 2004, when the district added its operating levy referendum to the ballot, the cost was about $500, he said.

ìItís a small financial savings,î he said. ìWeíre trying to save every nickel we can.î

At the work session the response to Stepaniakís proposal was positive overall, but reservations still permeated the air.
Board chair Mary Jo Ahlgren said that she liked the idea of saving money and was also interested in the effect the change would have on voter turnout.

ìThis could get more people engaged in voting for school board members,î she said.

Board member Kirby Ekstrom expressed concern about the publicís perception of changing the election years.
Stepaniak recognized a potential problem, advising the board that if they were to decide to approach the issue they had better do it fast.

ìFiling for school board offices starts in June,î he said. ìThe closer we get to the date, people will accuse us of manipulating the situation.î

The board decided to add the issue to the agenda for Thursdayís regular meeting.

Also at the work session, the board tied up some loose ends from another work session held on Jan. 20 at the AmericInn in North Branch. At that work session the board, along with Stepaniak, assistant superintendent Rodney Reisnouer and Mark Wolak, superintendent of the Mahtomedi school district, worked for about four hours to iron out a strategic plan.

The result of their lengthy deliberations was presented at at last weekís work session. The strategic plan includes three goals: strengthen relationships with the community through better communication; improved school district performance through strategic management and effective delegation of administration and staff; and improved student achievement.

The plan is designed to improve communication within the district and between the district and parents. By communicating better with parents the district hopes to better engage them in the district. Board vice chairman Kim Salo said she hopes the strategic plan will make communication more efficient between the school board and administration.

ìFor a long time expectations were coming from the board, but were not communicated well,î she said. This plan will help resolve that issue, she said.

Reisnouer said the plan will also help the district define ìexcellenceî and ìsuccess.î
As a result, the board will be able to focus on the strengths of the district, instead of focusing on the reasons why it canít do all it wants to do.

ìThere are plenty of things we can whine about,î he said. ìWe need to take the high road on this.î

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