Board votes to amend officers rule to allow co-chairs; later officer election proceeds

SARTELL, Minn. — At a special meeting called in March, the Sartell-St. Stephen School Board voted to amend its officer structure so the chair position could be converted to co-chairs. The board then proceeded to an election process under the amended arrangement.

The board discussed the pros and cons of a co-chair model at length. Supporters said a co-chair structure could provide representation from both sides of a six-member split and reduce stalemate voting; opponents raised concerns about added complexity, additional legal consultation and the optics of creating a co-chair arrangement.

After discussion, a board member moved an amendment to make the officer position “chair” into two co-chairs. The clerk read the amendment and the board took a formal voice vote. The amendment passed; the meeting transcript does not list a roll-call tally in the public minutes for that amendment.

Following passage of the amendment, the board moved to conduct the election for officers under the new co-chair arrangement. The transcript records the start of a vote for Jen Smith for one of the co-chair positions, but the meeting record excerpted in the transcript ends before a complete roll-call tally for the officer election is recorded.

Ending: The board approved an amendment to allow co-chairs; the transcript records the start of officer elections under that amendment but does not include a complete, named vote tally for the resulting officer selection in the excerpt provided. The board did not record a change to district policy in this meeting; the amendment represents a change in the officers' structure to be implemented at the board level.