4 add to list of school board candidates
Filings closed Tuesday for the three four-year terms and one special two-year term on the Brainerd School Board.
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Of the 10 people whose names will be on the ballot for the Nov. 3 electionfour of them filed on Tuesday.
Those seeking one of the three four-year seats on the board include Howard Brewer, Nancy Cross, Todd Froemming, Tom Haglin, incumbent Ruth Nelson and Chris Robinson.
Those seeking the two-year special board term include Jim Hunt, Theresa Knierim, incumbent Bob Nystrom and Tom Peterson.
Filing Tuesday were Brewer, Haglin, Knierim and Nystrom.
Howard Brewer
Lew Hudson previously announced he would not seek another term on the board. Molly Kurtzman, who was appointed to the board last fall for a one-year special term, is not seeking re-election, she said Tuesday.
Kurtzman, a stay-at-home mom, said she has enjoyed being on the board during the past year and she would consider running again in the future but she said she felt she was cheating her young children by spending so much time dealing with school board issues.
Brewer, 65, of northeast Brainerd, said he's "just a single old grump" who decided to throw his hat in the ring to get the incumbents out of office.
"I'm pretty sold on re-elect nobody, throw the bums out," said Brewer. "You know the incumbents are the reason the district is in the mess it's in. I'm an old railroad guy who doesn't own a suit or sportcoat, but I know how to make ends meets."
Brewer, who unsuccessfully ran for Brainerd City Council last year, served five years in the Marine Corps and 22 years in the Marine Corps Reserve. He also previously worked for the Milwaukee Railroad for several years before he started his own handyman company in Owatonna. Brewer moved to Brainerd in 2000. He has an associate degree in criminal justice, attending school at the University of Minnesota and Inver Hills Community College in Inver Grove Heights. He is not married and has three adult daughters.
Tom Haglin
"I'd bring 65 years of wisdom," Brewer said when asked what he would bring to the board if elected. "I have no children in the district, I have no children with children in the district. I guess from my point of view education is paramount. If it's for the kids, if education is for the kids and not the status quo. I'm not going to be a friend of the administration or a friend of the union, I'll make decisions on what's best for the children."
Haglin, 46, lives in Nisswa with his wife, Ellen, and their three kids, Garrett, a Forestview ninth-grader, Connor, a Forestview sixth-grader, and Alissa, a second-grader at St. Francis of the Lakes Catholic School. He is the owner/president of LINDAR Corp., a company he founded in Baxter 16 years ago. He is a 1981 Brainerd High School graduate and also graduated from Central Lakes College and the College of St. Scholastica with a business/finance degree. Haglin worked at Acrometal for about 10 years, working his way up to plant manager before starting LINDAR Corp. in 1993.
Haglin is a lifelong resident of the Brainerd area. He said he feels a connection to not only the Brainerd School District but to education since both of his parents were teachers and he has two sisters and a brother who were teachers. He decided to run for school board to give back to his community.
"I'm a believer of letting this community provide opportunities for our graduates," said Haglin. "I was able to go to school here and able to come back here and raise a family and be an entrepreneur. It's my opportunity to give back and I'm very proud of this district. I think it's been a well run district for years and hopefully we'll continue to make it that way."
Theresa Knierim
Haglin has been active in the Brainerd Lakes Chamber and served on the board of directors. He has served on the board for Mid-Minnesota Federal Credit Union since 2000 and is active at his church, St. Andrew's Catholic Church. He's also on the state regional advisory board for the Small Business Development Center.
Haglin said the greatest issues facing the board are obviously financial in nature, as well as class sizes. He said keeping the lines of communication open between the public and school board is important.
"I feel the more community involvement there is the better so people understand why decisions are made," said Haglin. "I want to continue to keep that community support that's out there."
Knierim, a Brainerd woman who recently became certified as a licensed police officer, is a 1998 Brainerd High School graduate who grew up in Breezy Point. She moved back to Brainerd last summer from Las Vegas, where she did private security and investigations for two years. She is a 2003 CLC graduate and returned to CLC last year to obtain her licensed peace officer certification. She earned her EMT license from CLC in 2002 and is a First Responders volunteer.
Knierim, 29, and her fiance, Randy Woodward, have three children, Scott, 11, Emmily, 10, and Carter, 5, who attend Brainerd schools. She is an active volunteer at her children's schools, Lowell and Forestview, and also is active in her church, Lakes Area Church of Christ. While she was in college, she was active in student organizations and recently served as secretary for the veteran's club at CLC.
"I'm very interested in preparing the children for higher education and meeting standards that are required, not just state graduation requirements but requirements to get into college and make sure those activities and classes are available," said Knierim. "What I'm mostly running for is I want students to be prepared for higher education and what they're going to face in life."
Knierim said she's also concerned about curriculum materials, notably the Everyday Math that her children are using at Lowell School that she said is not a standard mathematics curriculum accepted by all states. She said she is concerned as a parent and community member about whether changes like this will properly prepare students for higher education.
Bob Nystrom
Nystrom, 52, is currently serving as vice chair on the board. He and his wife, Rachel, a Crow Wing County Commissioner, have three children and live in Baxter. Two of his children graduated from BHS and his youngest is a BHS senior. Nystrom is a 1975 BHS graduate and attended Brainerd Community College and the University of Minnesota's School of Pharmacy.
Nystrom is a pharmacist who operated Nystrom Drug for 15 years. He is completing his second term on the board and is currently serving as chair of the school board legislative committee and was chair of the school board finance committee from 2006-08. He served as board chair in 2004.
Nystrom said he is seeking re-election because the district is at a critical juncture.
"Our challenge is to maintain the quality of education in our district with increasingly limited finances," said Nystrom. "We have come through a significant period of downsizing which has left us with fewer teachers, reduced class options and limited extracurricular activities."
Nystrom said the board's No. 1 priority is to reduce class sizes.
"Quality experience in the classroom is directly related to a smaller number of students," said Nystrom. "With our limited resources, it is important that we identify the most critical needs and do everything we can to address them."