MENNO SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION ON TAP
No other races necessary on April 8; Cody Fransen to join Freeman City Council, Katie Fransen Freeman School Board
There will be two new members serving on the Menno School Board of Education when it convenes for another fiscal year in July. According to the business manager Dale Weiss, Ben Crick, Josh Hora, Audrey Massey and Joseph Wipf have all turned in nominating petitions for election in what will be a four-way race for two seats.
Incumbents Brent Rames and Barry Schmidt did not submit petitions for re-election.
The school board election will be held Tuesday, April 8 and comes amidst other transitions within the district. Superintendent Kory Foss is resigning at the conclusion of the year to take a job as the top administrator at Elkton while Weiss is retiring as business manager at the end of the 2024-25 term.
Those positions have not yet been filled, although the Menno School Board had previously offered the superintendent contract to Will Massey, who currently teaches and coaches in Menno, but rescinded that offer the following week.
The board accepted Weiss’ resignation at its regular meeting on Jan. 10.
According to public notices published in The Courier, there have been two special sessions in the past three weeks, both per South Dakota Codified Law 1-25-2, which permits closed door discussions about personnel, contractual matters, student issues and litigation. The first came on Feb. 14 and lasted just under two hours and the second came March 1 and lasted almost three-and-a-half hours. Information about what took place in closed session cannot be disclosed, per law. However, any and all official action by the board must come in open session.
Other vacancies
While there are other upcoming vacancies within local governing bodies, no other election will be necessary.
On the Freeman School Board, two petitions for two openings have been turned in — one by incumbent Cody Spangler and the other by Catharine “Katie” Fransen, who has not previously served on the board. Incumbent Doug McCune did not submit a petition for re-election.
On the Freeman City Council, three nominating petitions have been turned in for three openings — one by incumbent Lonnie Tjaden in Ward 1, another by incumbent Blaine Saarie in Ward 2 and a third by Cody Fransen in Ward 3. Elizabeth Waltner, who currently represents Ward 3, is not seeking re-election.
On the Marion School Board, incumbent Jennifer McConniel has submitted her petition for re-election, and there are no other upcoming vacancies.
And on the Menno City Council, three of the four incumbents whose terms are set to expire have submitted petitions for re-election: Jacob Mettler in Ward 1, Ron Diede in Ward 2 and Amber Cross in Ward 3. The Ward 1 seat currently held by Tyler Goehring will have to be filled by appointment.
