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Elk River board directs superintendent to solicit alternate legal counsel options and report costs, hours and ongoing cases
Summary
The board voted to direct the superintendent to solicit at least two alternative legal-counsel options with cost estimates and to provide a detailed report on the district's current law firm, including last year's total cost, hours billed, case types and a summary of ongoing cases.
The Elk River School District board voted Jan. 13 to direct the superintendent to solicit at least two alternative legal counsel options and to bring a detailed report on the district’s current law firm to a future work session in February.
Director Nordos moved the motion after a period of discussion about the board’s oversight of legal services. The motion, as read during the meeting, directs the superintendent to solicit and present at least two alternate legal counsel options, including cost estimates, and to provide a report on the current law firm’s services containing the total cost for the past year, the number of hours billed, the types of cases handled and a summary of ongoing cases. Board members agreed to a deadline of the second meeting in February for that information to be delivered; the superintendent said staff would need some time to compile data and flagged potential data‑practice considerations for summaries of ongoing cases.
During the debate the superintendent noted that districts commonly use multiple firms for specialized services (for example, bond counsel, employment law, special education), and said the board’s request could cover firms or individuals with specific specialties so the district could compare “apples to apples” costs. Director Nordos said the aim was to give the board information to evaluate legal services and costs before making any decisions.
Chair Anderson and other board members said administration and the superintendent would work with Director Nordos to clarify the scope of the requested information. The motion passed on a voice vote; board members who spoke during the discussion included Director Nordos, Director Freyberg and Superintendent Almos.
The board did not vote on any immediate change to outside counsel at the Jan. 13 meeting; the motion was limited to soliciting alternate proposals and compiling cost and workload information for board review.
