Board member is under investigation

A short emergency meeting of the Wrenshall school board Wednesday night resulted in a vote to begin an investigation into the actions of one of its own members. The investigation will focus on the special board meeting held the night before as board members and a public audience discussed Covid-19 protocols before the district opens school for in-person classes next week.

The issue of whether or not to require mask wearing by students and staff dominated the discussion. The board, after two hours, voted unanimously to keep mask wearing as an option and not a requirement.

Superintendent Kim Belcastro said that vote, and the way one board member presented themselves at the meeting, were at the heart of numerous phone calls Wednesday. She said parents of 16 students enrolled at the school told her they plan to remove their children from the district. That number is nearing about 5 percent of the student population at the small school that houses students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

"There have been concerns raised regarding one board member in particular," Belcastro said in reading a prepared statement at the emergency meeting Wednesday night. "I discussed these concerns with the district legal council."

She said she was advised that an investigation of the school board member was warranted. She then called for the emergency meeting so the board could vote on whether to allow the investigation or not. Members voted unanimously to allow for the investigation.

The board member was not named and any details of the investigation will not be revealed until an investigator from the district's legal firm conducts interviews, reviews records and gathers other information in filing a final report for the board to review.

"The board will make the final decision on how to respond to the results of the investigation," Belcastro said.

The meeting Tuesday regarding masks was attended by parents and school staff, with comments made on both sides of the issue of whether masks should be required or not. For the most part, the discussion was civil. One board member, Misty Bergman, showed explicit disdain for mask wearing and argued with some of those who came to speak in support of a mask mandate. Other speakers and two board members urged the discussion to remain respectful, no matter where one stands on mask wearing.

Other details of the Tuesday meeting can be found in today's Page 1 story on mask decisions by boards across the county.

After the emergency meeting, Belcastro said the investigation deals with board ethics. She also said it was obvious from the meeting on Tuesday night that there was a problem with how speakers were being treated by one board member.

The investigation will be conducted while a petition continues to circulate regarding a decision by the board earlier in August to appoint a new school board member after Michelle Blanchard became principal of the school and had to step down. Community members are reacting to the lack of an open discussion or public candidate interviews by the board regarding the three or more people who showed interest in the open position.

The petition to reject the appointment is allowed under state statute regarding open board seats. It requires signatures from 5 percent of the voting public in the district, which equates to support from about 168 people.

As of Wednesday evening, after the second of two petition meet-ups in the past week at the city park, about 70 signatures had been gathered. State law says a petition has to be filed within 30 days of an appointment approved by a board. The board made its decision at its Aug.16 regular meeting, giving the petitioners until Sept. 15 to file a proper document.

Should the petition prove valid, it would rescind the appointment as well as the appointee, Bill Dian.

Dian was at the first petition signing gathering at the Wrenshall city park pavilion Aug. 28. He said he and his supporters were there to ask residents why they disapproved of the board's appointment.

Lisa Clarke, a parent of a student in the district and one who started the petition, said she felt intimidated by the presence of Dian and others, who she said confronted her about her motives. She was alone at the park and uncomfortable enough to call for police help. People had lined the driveway with vehicles, forming a gauntlet with political flags and queries that forced some people to turn away, Clarke said.

"I said they can be in the park, they just can't harass me or others," Clarke said at the second signature drive Wednesday, where there was at least one Dian supporter handing out fliers in support of his appointment.

Dian attended the special meeting on Tuesday and said he doesn't care one way or another how the petition drive goes. He has grandchildren in the school and he will still work to support the district, he said.

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