Minnesota and North Dakota Voter's Guide

Forum Communications Co., in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Minnesota and of North Dakota, is providing this voter guide to help keep you informed ahead of the 2024 election.

  • Learn where candidates running for office in your community stand on the issues.
  • Build your ballot before voting. Print or email the information to use as a reference when you actually vote.

We do not save your information; it will be lost when you leave this page. Only candidates that appear on your ballot will be listed. Additional information may be available for your area so be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page for other voters’ guides.

ISD #317 School Board Member {_getChooseLabel(this.selections.length)}

School board members oversee the care, management, and control of schools. This includes hiring, firing, and overseeing superintendents, who manage the day-to-day affairs of the district. They also set levies to fund the district and create school policies. Learn more here: https://www.lwv.org/blog/voting-local-matters-why-vote-school-boardIf your candidate didn’t fill in the guide below, visit the Secretary of State’s Candidate Filing site to find contact info (https://candidates.sos.mn.gov/). If you reach out, ask candidates to complete their Vote411 Voters Guide from LWVMN!

Click a candidate icon to find more information about the candidate. To compare two candidates, click the "compare" button. To start over, click a candidate icon.

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    Richard Fieldsend
    (NP)

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    Timothy M Frits
    (NP)

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    Carrie Johnson
    (NP)

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    Lloyd Kongsjord
    (NP)

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    Scott Ramsdell Jr
    (NP)

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    Pam Thompson
    (NP)

Biographical Information

Why are you the best candidate for this position? (750 characters)

If elected, what will your top three priorities be and why? (500 characters)

If forced to cut the budget in the face of declining revenues, what would be your strategy? (500 characters)

How would you address any racial and economic disparities in our education system? (500 characters)

Please describe how you will engage teachers and families in your decision making process. (500 characters)

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The experience and knowledge I have gained over the years has taught me various lessons and skills with dealing with finances, union relations, Human Resources, budgets, and long term planning. My current job as a supervisor has given me tools to handle various situations. Previous employment taught skills in labor relations and budgeting. My BA degree has given me the opportunity to learn and grow in multiple job capacities.
I believe that the school district needs a change of direction. I want to make our school board more representative of the children and taxpayers we serve. I want to bring more children and resources into this community. I also will strive to keep the budget sustainable.
When facing budget cuts, decisions are often hard, meaning services to children will be impacted. Taking a look at what services are required compared to those that are not necessary needed would be my framework. Risk prevention and mitigation is essential.
I believe access to quality education should be available to all students. Racial disparities in communities exist because of communication breakdowns. When the community stops having conversations, that’s when barriers arise. Communication across district boundaries and within district need to be in place to prevent these disparities.
Having open discussions with district employees about opportunities to improve our school will help make it easier for students to excel. Families need to be heard and encouraged to reach out and support their elected leaders.
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The League of Women Voters of Minnesota and North Dakota crafted the questions sent to the candidates in the Spring of 2024. They reached out to candidates based on contact information in their public candidate filings. Candidates with email addresses were invited and reminded with emails. Candidates with only mailing addresses were sent a letter. Candidates with phone numbers received a phone call as well.

Candidate responses are published as they responded and have not been edited, except when responses were longer than the given character limit. In those cases, the responses are truncated.

VOTE411 is brought to you by the League of Women Voters Education Fund and League of Women Voters of Minnesota Education Fund. The League of Women Voters does not support or oppose any political party or candidate for office.