Schools

Meet Your District 196 School Board Candidates

Seven people are vying for four seats on the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district board of education.

Editor's note: This is the first in a week-long series introducing you to the seven candidates running for four seats on the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district board of education. The general election is Nov. 8.

Each day this week, we'll publish all seven candidates' answers to one of the questions we posed. To promote fairness, we asked each candidate to limit responses to 200 words; we reserved the right to edit for clarity and length if necessary.

Tell readers a little about your background.

 

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Joel Albright (incumbent)

My family and I have been residents of District 196 since 1995 and I have been on the school board since 2004. I grew up in Lake City, Minnesota, graduated from Salisbury University in Maryland, and have been a credentialed actuary since 1992. My wife and I have been married for 23 wonderful years and we have two children attending District 196 schools.

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I have served in numerous capacities on the board, including as board clerk and treasurer and on the Policy Review, Curriculum and Instruction, and Legislative committees. I have been a member of the Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC) for the past eight years. I represent the board in several outside organizations, including as President of Schools for Equity in Education, an organization of Minnesota school districts working toward equitable and adequate funding of public schools across the state.

I have been active in youth athletics, coaching in EVAA or RAAA every year since 1997. I have coached softball, volleyball and wrestling in that time. I was the founding director of the Eastview Lightning Strike Tournament, an annual girls fastpitch softball tournament that draws teams from Wisconsin, South Dakota, and across Minnesota, including all seven District 196 cities.

 

Steven Butler

I grew older in Stillwater, MN, having moved from Ohio in the late '70s. I graduated in 1980 from Stillwater Senior High and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1990 with a bachelor's degree, after a tour of duty with the U.S. Army. I have been in sales since 1990 in the paper industry, living in Chicago, and moved back “home” to Minnesota (Eagan) in 2000. I have been active at our local elementary school level (Northview), serving four years on Site Council, as well as becoming a Minnesota licensed on-call substitute teacher.

 

Fay Coggshall

I’ve lived in ISD 196 for 33 years. All three of my children attended district schools from elementary through high school. They received the best public school education possible because we lived in this district. I know the area well and the variety of educational settings we’re fortunate to have available.

I have a bachelor's degree in communications from St. Catherine’s University, and my professional training and experience is in the field of human resources management. I’m a strong leader with the ability to bring diverse groups together to meet common goals. I believe in building relationships to solve problems and have done so throughout my personal and professional life. 

 

Rob Duchscher (incumbent)

My wife and I moved into this district in 1982 after graduating from the University of North Dakota. We have two daughters who started their education at Shannon Park Elementary and graduated from Rosemount High School. My oldest daughter, Jessica, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and is employed as a special education teacher. She also received her master’s degree this past May in education.

My youngest, Gina, graduated this past May from the University of North Dakota with a degree in nursing. She started her career as a nurse in September of this year at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

My day job is that of Senior Vice President of Information Technology for Starkey Laboratories, Inc. I have been with Starkey for nearing 13 years.

Since being elected to the ISD 196 board of education 11+ years ago, I have served in the following capacities:

  • Board chair for three years
  • Vice chair for three years
  • District treasurer for three years
  • Current chair and member of the Policy Review committee
  • Past chair and current member of the Audit and Finance committee
  • Member of the Budget Advisory Council since its inception
  • Minnesota Sports High School League representative
  • Community education council advisor

My re-election website is www.duchscherforisd196.com

 

Gary Krueger

My wife, Cindy, and I have been district residents since 1990. Our three sons, Brian, Scottie and Eric all went to District 196 schools (Pinewood, Dakota Hills, Eagan High). I have been a coach/volunteer for numerous teams with the Eagan Athletic Association, been on the travel basketball board (equipment coordinator) and in-house baseball board (umpire coordinator). I have been an active volunteer in District 196 (PTA, Eagan High band/drumline and cross country booster, Eagan High parent link crew). Other community activities include church volunteer at St. Thomas Becket, and volunteering with Minnesota Brass Drum Corps, Twin Cities Marathon and USA Cup soccer tournament.

I have a bachelor's degree in natural resources the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My current employer is the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, where I am a project manager in the Superfund program. I am responsible for the investigation and cleanup of contaminated sites, either through hiring a state contractor or oversight of responsible parties in conducting cleanup actions.   Current projects include oversight of 3M in the cleanup of PFC sites in Washington County, and the University of Minnesota’s investigation of the Gopher Ordinance Works site in Rosemount. I am also the overall contract/budget manager for the Superfund program.

 

Jackie Magnuson (incumbent)

It has been my privilege and honor to serve on the ISD 196 board of education for the past 22 years. I am currently the board chair. I serve as the chair of the Negotiations committee, the Curriculum committee and Strategic Planning committee.

I am involved at both the state and national level with the Minnesota State School Boards Association and National School Board Association; I have a master's degree in education. I teach middle school Family and Consumer Science in Northfield, MN.

I am a 34-year district resident. My three children are 196 graduates.

 

Bob Schutte (incumbent)

Bachelor's degree in psychology and special education; master's degree in behavior analysis and therapy at the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University; corporate trainer for Multifoods for five years, quality coordinator for Elvin Safety Supply for eight years, account manager for Federal Reserve Bank Minneapolis for nine years; have been an instructor for Cardinal Stritch University and University of Vermont in classroom behavior management.

Currently I am serving my fifth elected term to ISD 196 school board. Both our children graduated from 196 schools and got into the college of their choice and have excellent employment as a result. My parents were both career educators and education was the main family focus in all our activities outside of church. 

 

Check back Tuesday to read why each candidate wants to be on the District 196 school board.


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