School briefs: Van Leer prevails in South Washington County recount

November 30, 2013 at 10:44PM

Sharon Van Leer, the South Washington County school board candidate who on election night held a slim lead for one of five seats on the Nov. 5 ballot, had the victory affirmed in a two-day recount that ended Nov. 22.

She will join Katie Schwartz, a full-time student and stay-at-home mom from St. Paul Park, as the two new faces on the seven-member board when they are sworn into office in January.

Van Leer, who works as a multicultural affairs specialist for William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, entered the recount with a five-vote advantage over Molly Lutz, a middle school PTO president.

During the recount, Van Leer picked up one additional write-in vote, a school district news release said.

She secured one of the four four-year seats up for election. The others went to Schwartz and incumbents Tracy Brunnette and Katy McElwee-Stevens.

Incumbent Laurie Johnson won a two-year term.

Van Leer grew up in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul and now lives in Woodbury. She and her husband, the Rev. Thomas Van Leer, raised six children and 30 foster children. The foster children, "many of whom came from broken and dysfunctional homes, were able to receive a quality education," she wrote in a recent e-mail.

Schwartz was the top vote-getter among the 14 candidates seeking four-year seats. She told the Star Tribune in October that she wanted to work to close the achievement gap and "to make sure that all students are ready for life after high school."

Mahtomedi

Area schools among the best in the nation

Four high schools in Washington County, including previously acclaimed Mahtomedi High, have been named among the best 2,000 best public high schools in the nation, according to rankings released by The Daily Beast website. Overall, 45 Minnesota high schools made the list.

In addition to Mahtomedi High, local schools named were St. Croix Preparatory Academy, Stillwater Area High School and Forest Lake Area High School.

Edina High School was the highest ranked school in the state at No. 121. A total of seven local schools made the top 500: Eastview High School (302) and Mounds View High School (381), Eden Prairie High School (418), Mahtomedi (431), Eagan High School (452), Orono High School (453) and St. Anthony Village High School (487).

The website used six variables to rank the schools: graduation rate (weighted 25 percent), college acceptance rate (25 percent), AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10 percent), and percent of students enrolled in at least one AP/IB/AICE course (5 percent).

In April, U.S. News & World Report ranked Mahtomedi as the best high school in the state.

Anthony Lonetree, Libor Jany

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