Five people file for District 191 school board seats
by Aaron Vehling
Thisweek Newspapers
Five people have filed to run for four open seats on the School Board in Burnsville-Eagan-Savage District 191.
Dan Luth and Gail Morrison have opted to defend their seats, while Paula Teiken, Jim Schmid and Peter Beckel (all of Burnsville) have opted to vie for the open seats.
As reported last month in Thisweek Newspapers, Susan Martin has opted to not run for re-election. Nancy Banyard has decided against another run as well.
Jim Schmid
Schmid said in an interview that he is running because he has a vested interest in the success of the school district.
“I have five kids in the district,” said Schmid, who also ran for a board seat in 2001. “I went through the system myself.”
Schmid, a director of development at Lawson Software, gave the district high marks for its fiscal responsibility and limited need for budget cuts, but he wants to ensure a balance between academic and extra-curricular activities.
“A well-rounded student is a better student,” he said.
In addition to his own vested interests, Schmid said he is running because he wants to “empower teachers to do best.”
On top of that, Schmid said that several people had actually planted the idea of candidacy in his head.
Schmid has been involved with the Burnsville Athletic Club, the PTO at Metcalf Junior High School and serves on the church personnel and finance committee at Mary Mother of the Church in Burnsville, he said.
When asked about his thoughts on the economic status of the state government, Schmid was succinct.
“I think the school district’s hands are tied,” he said.
Paula Teiken
Teiken, like Schmid, also has children in the district. Her kids attend Sky Oaks and Harriet Bishop. And like Schmid, this too served as a catalyst for her candidacy, she said.
“It’s a good time in my life to have the opportunity to serve the district,” she said.
Teiken, who has a paralegal background, said she wants to ensure the continuation of a quality education for each student.
She has also recently graduated from a nine-month program that teaches the political process at the state legislative level called Partners in Policy Making. The program gives people the tools to advocate for students with developmental disorders, she said.
Beckel, who ran for the board in 2008, could not be reached by press time.
E-mail Aaron Vehling at aaron.vehling@ecm-inc.com.
