Chris Robinson, four-year term candidate
Brainerd School Board election
Age: 42.
Address: Baxter.
Occupation: Attorney in private practice with Askegaard & Robinson, P.A., Brainerd.
Chris Robinson
Education: 1985 Forest Lake High School graduate, 1989 Gustavus Adolphus College graduate, magna cum laude, with a B.A. in psychology; 1992 University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., cum laude.
Family: Wife, Julie; children, Gus, 9, and Sophie, 7.
What specific qualities or experiences will make you a good choice for school board? "I believe that my commitment to and experience in community service will allow me to be an effective school board member. In the past, I have served as the mayor of the city of East Gull Lake, president of the Brainerd Kiwanis Club, chair of the Brainerd Lakes Chamber board and on a number of other civic and municipal boards and committees. Those opportunities have prepared me to provide leadership on the many challenging issues facing the district."
The school district is considering options to address possible growth in the elementary school population. What options do you support? Should increasing class size be on the table? "I don't believe that there is enough information available to make a decision about the five options under consideration at this time. I support the board's decision to conduct community meetings for feedback. The value placed on reducing class sizes and the importance placed on stability of attendance boundary lines should be weighed against the costs associated with each proposal. If the data do not show a detrimental impact on student achievement from recently increased class sizes, and the community states a preference for attendance boundary stability, increased class size should be on the table."