2020 voter guide: Lake Superior School Board

• Occupation: Retired teacher
• Family: Husband, Steve Hagedorn, office assistant at Bayview Terrace in Two Harbors

• Age: 60
• Occupation: Hotel owner and operator
• Family: Husband, Jeff; 2 adult children; 3 grandchildren

Hagedorn

I am a retired teacher who spent my entire career teaching in the Lake Superior School District. I served as chair of the Language Arts Department; president of Education Lake Superior, the local teachers' union; and I was the coach/adviser for numerous student activities. I also co-founded the THHS Afterprom. I know this district from the inside out, so I think I would bring a wealth of experience to the board.

Ryder

I have served on the School Board for the last four terms for a total of 16 years. I bring experience and “outside of the box” problem solving to the table.

Hagedorn

I think the pandemic brought out some of the shortcomings of distance learning. It doesn't work well for all students and parents in the district.

Ryder

The pandemic has given everyone who is providing and receiving our services a better understanding and appreciation for the job that we do which is to educate kids. By implementing scheduling changes to keep half of the students in the buildings at a time we have reduced contact and hopefully reduce the spread of COVID-19. I hope that we can keep this current model in place and not have to go to all distance learning.

Hagedorn

Like most districts, I think having the funds available to provide necessary materials and resources to allow all students to have a quality educational experience in our schools is one of the biggest issues our district faces.

Ryder

The biggest issue is the same every year: not enough funding. What to keep? What to cut? At the same time we have state and federal mandates that are required but they are underfunded. Mandates should be fully funded and not reimbursed at just 50-60 cents on the dollar. There will be an opportunity in the near future for our communities to support the district’s efforts and support the education of our students.

Hagedorn

My primary goal is to help the district provide a quality educational experience to all students enrolled in our schools regardless of their individual needs. I would hopefully accomplish my goal through collaboration with other members of the board to provide equal opportunities to all students served by the district.

Ryder

My goal has always been to educate our students to the best of our ability while maintaining fiscal responsibility to our taxpayers. We need to put as much on the educational plate as we can in order to give students a variety of electives to “sample” different areas of interest. If they don’t get to try things how will they know what they want to be “when they grow up?” The challenge is funding it.