Letter to the editor: Wrenshall board process OK by me

The appointment of Bill Dian to the Wrenshall School Board has drawn a number of objections. All parties affirm that it’s about the process, not Mr. Dian. According to the Aug. 27 issue of the Pine Knot, the Minnesota School Board Association confirmed that “the board followed the letter of the law when it came to making the appointment.”

The petition to reject the appointment of Mr. Dian states that the candidate was “interviewed privately by the chair and a few school board members rather than holding a public interview process or even a discussion of candidate qualifications and experience.” I attended both the committee of the whole and school board meetings this month. Replacing (Michelle) Blanchard was on the agenda of both meetings and opportunity for discussion and even interviews were available as Mr. Dian was at the committee meeting.

Board member conversations about or with Mr. Dian apart from an open meeting could be illegal according to a Pine Knot article. The July 12 school board minutes record Michelle Blanchard recommending Janaki Fisher-Merritt as her replacement. To make that recommendation, I think there had to have been private conversations with Mr. Fisher-Merritt and probably with other board members as well. No one is publishing the illegality of those conversations. If the law actually states that board members cannot talk with each other apart from scheduled and published open meetings, then it is a very unrealistic law and, in the present situation, seems less a law to be obeyed than a weapon used to discredit people you disagree with.

Mr. Dian is a good candidate with ample leadership experience and community spirit. And, with grandchildren in the school, he is invested in its success. I think Mr. Dian will make an excellent school board member.

Cindy Bourn, Wrenshall

Editor’s note:Janaki Fisher-Merritt stated his interest in the open seat on the school board to district administration and board members, as did two other people: Bill Dian and Ben Johnson. The inference that Michelle Blanchard, in expressing at a public meeting her preference for the former school board member Fisher-Merritt, violated open meeting law has no merit. Open meeting law violations occur when board members, in a quorum or a series of conversations culminating in a quorum, discuss board business or make decisions outside of public meetings. Dian said he was told he had enough member support before the Wrenshall board approved his appointment last month. There has been no public meeting discussion among board members on any of the people interested in the vacant seat and no public interviews.