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Lynd School District moving board elections to even years

LYND — All six members sitting on the Lynd Public School District Board will serve an extra year after voting 5-1 last week to move elections from odd years to even years.

The board voted to hold elections on the same day as the general election after District Business Manager Joann Condelli delivered a report on recommendations offered by the Minnesota School Boards Association.

“Our school board elections now fall on odd years. Only a few districts will do that and it’s becoming less and less,” Condelli told the board. She said odd-year elections are more expensive because of all the requirements to hold the elections such as ballots.

“It will take our costs down,” Condelli said.

The lone no vote was made by Mike Pochardt. He would have been up for re-election this fall along with Amy Korman and Holly Stelter.

“I’ll resign in November,” Pochardt said after the vote. “I won’t be here.”

Condelli said resigning is an option for board members who don’t want to serve an extra year. She said if a member resigns, the board will accept applications and then vote to appoint the replacement.

The Minnesota School Board Association did offer two other options, according to Condelli. The second option would be to waiting until after the 2019 election before extending terms. Option three would make the next two elections three-year terms.

“RTR (Russell-Tyler-Ruthton) and Canby are the only ones in the area now (to have odd-year elections) and Canby is transitioning over,” Condelli told the board. “If Lynd does, RTR will be one of the standalone districts. He (association official) also made the comment that Marshall changed a few years ago. They had election issues and that came up and the cost to the district. They opted to do it as well. If you go to the normal election, you are getting more response from the voter. You are getting more results.”

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