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Board approves handbooks, personnel appointments and calls special election; several resolutions pass by roll call
Summary
The Lake of the Woods board approved elementary and high-school handbooks, multiple personnel appointments including coaches and a consultant contract, and passed several election-related resolutions (filing dates, absentee-count procedures, and a special-election call).
The Lake of the Woods School District board approved student handbooks, multiple personnel actions and a package of election-related resolutions during its July 28 meeting.
Board members voted to approve the elementary and high-school student handbooks for 2025–26 and the high-school course schedule. Mary Merchant told the board handbooks were aligned to standardize attendance notices and that no substantive change had been made to the district’s separate cell-phone policy.
The board approved resignations and appointments presented by staff, including a MARS/DAC consultant contract with Diane Lane and a slate of coaching hires: Alan Kbble (football head coach), multiple assistant coaches and junior-high coaches. A resignation was noted for TJ Ferris (high-school social-studies teacher, assistant athletic director and head baseball coach). The motion to approve personnel actions was moved by Hayes and seconded by Severs; the transcript records named individuals who abstained from that vote (Kayla Johnson and Robin Sonstagard were listed as abstaining in the discussion), and staff recorded the motion as carried.
Separately, the board approved a set of election-related resolutions by roll call: Resolution 2025/26-02 (establishing dates for filing affidavits of candidacy), Resolution 2025/26-03 (procedures for counting absentee/right-in votes), and Resolution 2025/26-04 (calling the school-district special election). For each of those resolutions the board conducted a roll-call vote in which members recorded affirmative responses; the motions carried.
The board also approved other routine items by voice vote, including minutes from prior meetings, invoices and bank reconciliations, and policy revisions (staff said most changes track statute or are minor). Staff noted the district will retain a separate cell-phone policy even though state language was adjusted.
Next steps: staff will finalize contract paperwork for approved hires, post updated handbooks to parent communication systems, and complete state filings and election logistics per the newly approved resolutions.
