Nelson, Thomas and Stately sworn in for 4-year Red Lake School Board terms

RED LAKE, MN – On Monday, January 5, 2015, the Red Lake School Board held their annual Organizational Special School Board Meeting at the Red Lake District Office.

By Minnesota Law the first Monday in January each year, newly elected school board members' terms of office begin, and school boards must meet to organize for the year. New Board Members must be sworn into office and organize by selecting a chair, clerk and a treasurer who will hold that office for one year until their successors are selected and qualify.

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Michael Barrett with members Roy Nelson, Barb Thomas, Robert McClain, Darwin Sumner and Tina Stately present.

Those sworn into office, elected in November 2014 to 4-year terms, were current members Roy Nelson and Barb Thomas, and newcomer Tina Stately, who was elected to her first term on the Board.

Originally 17 candidates filed for 3 school board seats in June 2014. Those seats currently up in January 2015 are held by Roy Nelson, Barb Thomas and Chris Jourdain. These terms are 4 years each.

Those candidates filing were Thomas Barrett, Kathryn "Jody" Beaulieu, Dorothy W. Cobenais, Nicole Desjarlait, Victoria Irons Graves, Chris Jourdain, Maureen Lyons, Roy Nelson Sr ., Michael G. Stillday, Barb Thomas, Irene Zamora, Allura J. May, David L. May, Jerick L. Head, Michelle Reynolds, Rob Beaulieu and Tina Statley.

Six candidates advanced in the August 12th Primary Election, and they were Thomas Barrett receiving 127 votes, Roy Nelson receiving 105 votes, Chris Jourdain 91 votes, Barb Thomas 82 votes, Jody Beaulieu 77 votes and Tina Stately with 75 votes.

After the approval of the agenda, the Board began their organizational process. Re-elected as Chairman for this year was Michael Barrett, Darwin Sumner was elected as Vice-Chairman, Barbra Thomas was elected as Clerk and Roy Nelson as Treasurer.

The Board also set their new Regular Meeting times for the year, which will be the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 3 PM at rotating locations (Red Lake High School, Red Lake Elementary School and the Ponemah School) from September – May, and at the District Administration Office June – August. Last year's meeting times were at 2 PM.

The board changed the time to accommodate more participation by shareholders.

Board compensation was also set for the year, with no change from previous years, along with the designation of official depositories, corporate certificate of authority and the designation of the district legal publications, which was the Bemidji Pioneer and the Red Lake Nation Newsletter.

The next Regular Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, 2015, 3 PM at the Red Lake High School Culture Room.

Photographs by Sherri May