Election 2012

Lind Joins Incumbents Erickson, Keliher on Lakeville School Board

Former Lakeview Elementary School Principal Terry Lind will join incumbents Bob Erickson and Judy Keliher on Lakeville's School Board.

Lakeville's School Board has a not-so-new-face joining the ranks. Terry Lind, a former principal at Lakeview Elementary School, was elected to the school board on Nov. 6, joining incumbents Bob Erickson and Judy Keliher who were also re-elected. Lind takes the seat of longtime Board Member Kathy Lewis who announced earlier this year she's retiring from public office after 22 years. By the numbers, among all 22 precincts, Erickson led all vote getters with 11,948 votes, good for 22.46 percent of the total ballots cast. Lind finished second with 11,746 votes, or 22.12 percent. Keliher finished with 11,344 votes and 21.33 percent. Jennifer Harmening finished fourth with 10,055, or 18.90 percent. Lori Amborn, who dropped out of the race before…

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Election 2012

Lakeville School Board Member Bob Erickson to Run Again

Erickson tells Sun Thisweek he wants to continue to advocate for transparency within the district.

According to Sun Thisweek, Lakeville School Board Member Bob Erickson will run for a second term. Filing for office isn't until July 31, but Erickson made the announcement last week citing his desire to "advocate for 'continued transparency, both internally and externally,'" the report said. Erickson is a former Lakeville city administrator and current board member of the Friends of the Lakeville Area Arts Center. He serves as the School Board’s treasurer. Lakeville Patch will have more on Erickson's candidacy, as well as the other candidates to run for local offices.

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Charlie Gerk

5:41 pm on Friday, June 15, 2012

Again not to be picky, but Bob was never on the Council, he worked for the city, city administrator, as an employee.   more ›

Lakeville's Elementary Parents Speak Out on Proposed Boundary Changes

Lakeville's School Board hears resident feedback on proposed attendance boundary changes.

A small but vocal crowd turned out Monday night to talk to Lakeville's School Board about the school district's proposed elementary school boundary adjustments. The community information session was held at Kenwood Trail Middle School and offered the community a chance to raise grievances or offer support for the redrawn boundaries beginning with the 2011-2012 school year due to the closing of Crystal Lake Elementary near Lakeville’s northern border. The Attendance Area Adjustment Task Force had previously laid out their recommendations to the school board and public earlier this month, and Monday’s event served as a chance for board members to hear community comments regarding the recommendations. The new boundaries will disperse current …

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ABSG

6:56 am on Wednesday, April 20, 2011

RA-IGHHHT! When have they (or the City Council or ANY Governing body anywhere) EVER listened to the VOTING public or THE MAJORITY for that matter? Once in office they becomes a self-serving person....I think this, I think that, I feel this or I feel that...........they NEVER say "I believe the MAJORITY want this or that and that is our responsibilty to provide the wants and needs of the MAJORITY"!   more ›

Lakeville School Board Goes In-Depth On Outgoing/Incoming Superintendent

Board members get aggressive on Amoroso replacement search timeline and clear the air on contract situation.

Lakeville's School Board on Tuesday discussed an aggressive timetable for seeking departing Superintendent Gary Amoroso’s replacement. Amoroso submitted a notice of retirement to the board two weeks ago and will leave the district effective June 30. The board reached a consensus agreement during its work session last night to draft a Request for Proposal (RFP) and seek an outside consulting firm to conduct the search. Ideally, the board will complete the RFP at a special meeting on April 13 with the goal of reviewing proposals from consultants and tentatively setting May 3 as the target date for making a decision on which firm they will entrust to conduct the search. Board member Jim Skelly pressed for an aggressive timetable and suggested…

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Lakeville School Board Mulling Over Amoroso's Large Severance

Departing superintendent's retirement package leaves district with more than $360,000 in compensation due.

Coming on the heels of $15.8 million dollars in budget cuts that included the closing of an elementary school, elimination of more than 85 teachers and the slashing of a number of educational programs, the Lakeville Area Public School District's School Board is now faced with a retirement announcement by Superintendent Gary Amoroso that he will leave the district with a post-retirement compensation tab of more than $360,000. Amoroso announced his retirement from Lakeville schools and from public education in a March 15 email sent to staff members. His official letter of retirement was presented to the School Board for approval during last night’s regularly scheduled meeting. Amorso is leaving the district effective June 30 to take a …

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Lakeville School Board Officially Shutters Crystal Lake Elementary School

Next step for School Board is to rework attendance boundaries to get students from Crystal Lake into new schools.

In late January, the president’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited Lakeville’s Crystal Lake Elementary School, calling the school a “wonderful example” of how public schools are getting it right. That was then, but this is now. In an example of how quickly things can change, Crystal Lake will be closed at the end of the school year. Lakeville’s School Board approved the closure and future repurposing of Crystal Lake Elementary School Tuesday night. It marks one more dramatic step in what has been an emotional few months for Lakeville and its school district. Students, parents, and teachers have known for weeks that one of Lakeville’s nine elementary schools would be closed next year. The move to close a school, and save $750,000 a …

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M in Lakeville

12:40 pm on Saturday, March 12, 2011

Brian i think that's an excellent idea! a great location and great use of city money.   more ›

Lakeville’s Crystal Lake Elementary School to Close

District will keep school building and likely use it for Early Childhood Family Education, other programs in 2012. Students currently in the building will be reshuffled to one of the school district’s other eight elementary schools.

An analysis by the Lakeville Area Public School District’s engineering consultant, Wold Architects, recommends Crystal Lake Elementary School be closed next year. The school closure will likely be approved during the board’s May 8 meeting and comes as part of $15.8 million in budget cuts the School Board approved in February. Vaughn Dierks, a partner with Wold, presented a 163-page report and analysis of Lakeville elementary schools to the board at a work session on Thursday evening, which outlined Crystal Lake, which was built in 1987, as the best candidate to be closed. Now that a school has been identified for closure, the work on reconfiguring the district’s attendance boundaries will begin. But School Board member Jim Skelly cautioned…

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Dee

8:51 am on Monday, March 7, 2011

Cat5admin: I believe the integration dollars are only available for integration purposes. I don't know how that money could have prevented a school closing. Michelle: Pay cuts for school board members: I don't belive they make very much. If they took a pay cut, it would just be symbolic, but maybe that's what people are looking for. The people of this district spoke by not passing the levy. Now …   more ›

Lakeville's Graduations Moved To Roy Wilkins Auditorium

School board acts on late suggestion from parent to end year-long debate.

The Lakeville School Board approved a proposal Tuesday night to hold this year's North and South high school graduation ceremonies at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. The proposal was a late entry into the graduation location debate that has been going on for more than a year. Administrators have grappled with what was effectively a mandate by the board to bring graduation ceremonies back to Lakeville after holding them at Target Center in Minneapolis since 1992. Ultimately, it was an enterprising parent that stepped in with the solution. The move was prompted by an effort to save money as well as a sense that graduation was a community event and should be held in the community. But a plan by administrators to hold the ceremonies in the…

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UPDATE: Lakeville’s School Board Stands Behind Last-Minute Activity Fee Plan

The plan could be approved on Tuesday night as part of the district’s budget reductions.

A last minute proposal to try and mitigate extra-curricular fee increases at Lakeville's high schools received board support during a work session on Thursday night and could be adopted as part of a larger budget solution on Tuesday. The Lakeville Area Public School District is facing a $15.8 million deficit over the next two years and sports and activity fees were at the heart of an ongoing dialogue on how to reduce costs for the district and generate revenue at the same time. Lakeville school district administrators and two board members, Jim Skelly and Bob Erickson, spearheaded the plan presented Thursday, which was finished just a half hour before the board’s work session, according to Superintendent Gary Amoroso. The plan rolled gate …

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Most of Lakeville’s High School, Middle School Activities Reinstated, But Cost Could Be Steep

With a $15.8 million deficit poised to be addressed with steep cuts to teachers and programs, Lakeville’s School Board reinstates all high school programs, but is looking at massive across-the-board fee increases to save them.

The good news: for Lakeville’s School Board, eliminating co-curricular opportunities was too much. So Lakeville will keep all of the varsity programs once on the chopping block, such as lacrosse, gymnastics, and debate among others. The middle schools will still keep club stipends as well as vocal ensembles and band and other activity programs. The bad news: activity fees are going up. In some cases, way up. On Thursday, Lakeville’s School Board asked administrators to run scenarios where all extra curricular programs were spared, but where parents picked up a much larger portion of the overall costs to participate in athletics and activities. The School Board and administrators are spending a lot of time talking about and working on the …

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Derrick Williams

9:20 am on Friday, February 4, 2011

Chris, thanks for the comments. Here's my view: it's a whole lot of reaching to say parents of student athletes—which make up nearly half of all high school students—are obsessed with sports. What do you say about these two facts: 1) studies show student-athletes and fine arts participants have higher achievement levels in academics, and 2) hundreds of students receive college scholarships and …   more ›