ELY – Seven of nine candidates running for the upcoming ISD 696 school board election on Nov. 8 were present at the Minnesota North-Vermilion Auditiorium on Oct. 11 for a candidate forum hosted by the Ely branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Ely Rotary Club. The questions for the night’s forum were submitted by Ely residents and covered a wide range of topics.
Current school board chair Ray Marsnik and Anthony Bermel are vying for the one available two-year term. The remaining five candidates in attendance included incumbents Tony Colarich and Rochelle Sjorberg, interim board member Chad Davis, Jeremy Engen, and Jennifer Westlund. All five are running for three of the available four-year terms. Also in the running for a four-year term are Claire High and Mike Scherbing, both of whom were unable to attend.
Each candidate was given an opportunity to introduce him or herself and give an opening statement.
The introductions began with Ray Marsnik who thanked the AAUW and Ely Roatry club for sponsoring the event and emphasized the importance of hearing from the candidates regarding their vision for the school district. Marsnik, who was born and raised in Ely and a is graduate of Ely High School, went on to attend Ely Junior College which is now MN North. After this, Marsnick obtained a bachelor’s and master’s from Bemidji State and taught in the Lake Superior, Biwabik, and Mesabi East school districts for 35 years. After retiring from teaching, Marsnik ran for the ISD 696 school board and has served for the past 21 years. Marsnik stated that he believes his experience will be an attribute to his continued service on the board.
Anthony Bermel lives in Ely with his wife and three children in grades 5, 4 and 2 at Washington Elementary. He attended VCC in the mid 2000s. Bermel said, “I decided to run for school board because of what I believe was kind of a disaster to start the last school year. Regardless of what side of the COVID argument you’re on, I think that the beginning of the last school year was very poorly handed. I’ve also read a lot about agendas creeping into to public education around the nation that have me concerned. I felt like if I didn’t try to get on the board and more of this comes into our school that I would kick myself for not having tried here.”
Bermel said that he is active in the community through his job in public service as a DNR conservation officer and that experience enables him to deal with adversity. He is also the current chair of the police commission, a little league coach, and an elder at the Embarrass Evangelical Free Church.
Tony Colarich is married and has three adult sons and is a graduate of Ely high school and VCC. He also obtained a degree from UMD in Business Administration and Economics and is a retired miner. Colarich said, “The school board oversees the workings of the district, provides leadership, takes care of the business at hand, and plans for the future. I will continue to do that if I’m elected. I would ensure that the district is a safe and secure school. I will strive to have every student graduate with a quality education. I would ensure that the district is financially viable and remains an independent school district while continuing to work on the building facilities plan. I want to continue to provide service to community and to the school board.”
Chad Davis was appointed to an interim seat on the board last May when it was vacated by former board member Darren Visser. Davis grew up in Illinois and earned a degree in architecture from Kansas State University. He is licensed in real estate and property and casualty insurance and owns and operates a couple of businesses in the Ely area.
“My parents and brothers moved up here to Ely nearly 30 years ago. About ten years ago, my wife Tiffany (who teaches second grade) and I decided to settle our family here as well,” he said. Davis has two children, one of whom is currently a sophomore at Memorial High School. Davis is a former vice president of the little league board and coach. “I first became interested in running for the school board after voicing my concerns on a few issues and learning about how certain decisions are made and why. I want to make sure that all voices are not only heard, but that different viewpoints are represented on the school board and make sure that Ely schools provide the best possible learning environment for all students,” he said.
Jeremy Engen is a 1998 a graduate of Ely High School and 2017 Electronic Controls and Maintenance graduate from Mesabi Range in Eveleth. A union shop steward, Engen is also a volunteer assistant hockey coach and the father of a seventh grader and a fourth grader. “The main reason I’m running is for the best interest of them and all the students in the school district. In the 24 years since my departure from the Ely school, I have watched as taxpayer funds have been mismanaged and misused,” he said. Engen was critical of both the district’s building project, which he said wasn’t delivering what was promised, and last year’s decisions related to COVID.
Ely native and Ely- Bloomenson Community Hospital Human Resources Officer Rochelle Sjoberg is a nine-year member of the board who is married and has two Ely High School graduates. Sjoberg said she spent several years living in California before moving back to Ely. “Over the last nine years, I started filling in on an interim position and with that really gained a passion for the district as a whole, the education of all students and really got to know a lot of our district staff, and that is why I am sitting here today. Certainly, everyone knows that the last two years has been the most challenging of the nine. My passion is still with the school, the amazing staff, and all students have to be represented.” Sjoberg noted that board members often have to make decisions that some will disagree with, but that they must make the best decisions they can with the available information. “I am proud of the things I’ve done with the current board,” she said.
Jennifer Westlund identified herself as an Iron Ranger who has lived in Ely for 23 years. She has used her bachelor’s degrees in biology and environmental studies as supervisor for Bear Head Lake State Park for the past 15 years. She and her husband Matt have two children in sixth and tenth grades. “We’ve had great relationships with Ely school staff throughout the years, and I want to continue to support the wonderful work that they’re doing,” Westlund said. “I’m running because I’m a parent who cares about preparing our kids to enter the workforce or higher education set to succeed.” Westlund touted her experiences with policies, strategic planning, employee relations, budgeting, construction project oversight, and communication, and her service on numerous community boards, as reasons she is qualified for a position on the board.
Following candidate introductions, AAUW representative Kay Vandervort and Rotary representative Jeff Sundell asked the questions. Each individual candidate was asked a question about a specific topic, and all candidates were given opportunities to respond to answers given by other candidates in a response segment following each round. Following are the questions directed to specific candidates and their responses.
Question to Marsnik: If the budget has to be reduced, where would you look to make those reductions?
Marsnik: “We should be making our cuts as far away from the students as possible. In my tenure on the board, we went through some tough times where we did have to make cuts. That has always been my philosophy.”
Question to Bermel: If COVID cases within the community or school rise significantly, under what circumstances would you vote to return to remote learning or masking? What other measures do you recommend to protect the health of students and staff?
Bermel: “I would not at any point in time not do in-person learning, and I don’t believe masking was effective in any way, shape or form. Obviously, health and safety is extremely important. We all want our teachers, our students to stay healthy. Stay home when you’re sick. Hand washing. There’s so many things that can be done, but I think that in-person education, being able to have parents help make health decisions for their own children, being able to have faces uncovered and being able to have real social interaction, all those things are just too important to risk going back the other way.”
Question to Colarich: As you know, Minnesota is an open enrollment state. How will you compete with schools that provide one-to-one technology for students to use and take home with them and how will you ensure staff members have the technological expertise to utilize technology to the best advantage of the students?
Colarich: “When COVID first came about, the board made sure that each student had a laptop to bring home, and with open enrollment, you can gain students. There is a program where 2-1/2 percent of a yearly budget goes into teacher training.”
Question to Davis: Is it important for Ely students to be taught a complete and accurate history of racial justice in the United States? Why or why not?
Davis: “Yes. One hundred percent it’s important. What’s equally as important is for our educational system to foster reciprocal discussion and allow an opportunity for our students to critically think through issues and problems in the classroom. As long as we’re doing that, I think we’re doing what we can and giving our students whether they decide to go on to college or they decide to be an electrician, plumber, any kind of skills, trades whatever the case is, we need to foster that environment for our students to critically think and be able to have civil discussion not only in the classroom but in the community as well.”
Question to Engen: School safety is a big issue in the United States today. In addition to the school building project, are there any measures you would propose to better protect our students?
Engen: “I do believe in having well trained teachers, possibily in conflict resolution, not necessarily armed, but not necessarily not armed. This whole school renovation was designed for a safe learning environment. With the money that was spent in all this we could’ve put armed retired military people at every door. I do believe having trained staff would be the start.”
Question to Sjoberg: There are always students who have difficulty learning in the traditional school environment. Do you have any thoughts about how to ensure the needs of all students are met?
Sjoberg: “The most important thing for this is going to be qualified staff. Part of what we can do as a board is support through policy enforcement that our teachers have the resources and the tools to work with each student. It’s good to be open minded and to bring forth ways that we as a board can support each teacher in setting up their classroom style for the students which they are teaching.”
Question to Westlund: Studies indicate that the skills most lacking in young people entering the workforce are communication, critical thinking and problem solving. What can the school board do to ensure Ely students are ready for the challenges they will meet as they strive for success?
Westlund: “The school board’s role I would see as encouraging teachers and staff to look at reports, see what is lacking or needing to be addressed, and the school board finding ways to give teachers the resources - be it professional development, opportunities to bring in outside resources, encouraging those political debates, encouraging outside viewpoints to come in.”
The forum concluded with closing remarks from each candidate.
To hear more of each candidate’s answers and rebuttals please watch the recording of the meeting on YouTube by searching “Ely MN School Board Candidate Forum, 2022.”