Wrenshall continues wrangle with allegations

The Wrenshall school board was scheduled to have another meeting to discuss an investigation of “allegations of misconduct” on Thursday, June 30. It wasn’t determined before this issue of the Pine Knot News went to press whether the meeting was open or not. It also wasn’t clear if the board intended to discuss the charges or merely its plans to hire an outside investigator.

Earlier in June, the board had two closed meetings to discuss complaints about two employees. Board chairwoman Misty Bergman later said the district employees involved in complaints against them were superintendent Kim Belcastro and Jamie Hopp, who is the information technology director for the district.

There is a report, obtained by the Pine Knot News, from the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office, about a call made to that office by Belcastro regarding a threat made by Hopp. Belcastro told the deputy who responded that she was filing the report to have it on record only. There is no active law enforcement investigation.

The report states that Hopp made a statement to another district employee in the staff lounge and it was relayed to Belcastro by a third party. The report states that Hopp said “If I could f***ing kill someone it would be the f***ing superintendent.”

The report noted that it wasn’t a direct threat and there were no signs that Hopp planned to carry out the threat. Belcastro reported that she has “been having issues with Jamie at work for some time,” the report said. It said the threat was being investigated internally.

After the closed meetings on June 7, the board did not reveal what actions it took after its discussions about Belcastro and Hopp. Any approved action after a closed meeting must be made public under Minnesota open meeting law.

Members revealed at the regular board meeting June 13 that they intended to hire an investigator. There was an agreement to table the hire so board members could further investigate the investigator that had been chosen by the attorney for the district.

Look for more on Thursday’s meeting at PineKnot News.com.