Robbinsdale once again sees many challengers vying for school board

Last fall's field of school board candidates in the Robbinsdale district was an underwhelming four for three seats.

This summer, the school board will have a few more options when it chooses a new board member to replace Paul Magnuson, who resigned in mid-term. As of Tuesday's deadline for candidates to file, eight district residents had thrown their hats in the ring for the one position.

Among others, they include former district employees, a former teacher, and former school board member Bob Hernz.

The new board member will be selected by the board on Sept. 8 after the candidates' answers to questionnaires are scored, and finalists are interviewed by board members. Magnuson resigned when his wife got a job in Switzerland. His term was to end Dec. 31, 2009.

Board Chairwoman Patsy Green said this year's plethora of candidates isn't as surprising as last year's dearth.

"I would say last year was the anomaly, the unusual year, not this year," she said.

Green said: "There has always been a strong slate of candidates [in the Robbinsdale school district] to select from."

Green said last year's candidate pool might have been small because many prospective board members assumed board incumbents were going to run for reelection. As a result, would-be challengers held off filing their candidacies until the deadline had passed and it was too late.

According to Green, board candidates' application forms will be scored on a one-to-five scale on the basis of applicants' answers to five questions dealing with previous experience that might pertain to the board position, reasons for wanting to serve on the board, and any prior involvement with Robbinsdale schools. Board members will not know which candidates provided which answers, but can choose those with the highest scores to interview as finalists.

The Robbinsdale district had to cut almost $6 million out of the coming year's budget after voters turned down November's request for $23 million a year over 10 years from taxpayers. In addition to cutting transportation services and laying off teachers, the district increased athletic fees.