The Forest Lake Public School District board approved an application and timeline Oct. 30 to fill the vacancy left by the Oct. 24 resignation of board member Luke Haglund.

The board voted to use a Minnesota School Boards Association model application, with local edits. The application will ask applicants to provide a professional resume if possible or "recent pertinent work or volunteer experience," will replace an individual board member’s contact information with the district email address for board inquiries, and will include a brief data-privacy notice referencing Minnesota statute 13.601 that explains which application fields are public data.

Board Chair said the template "came largely from the Minnesota School Boards Association," and that Superintendent Doctor Massey and board members helped adapt it for local use. The board approved the application by voice vote after several members asked the document be amended to make a resume optional and to add language asking applicants to describe community involvement and volunteer experience.

The board also confirmed eligibility language discussed in the meeting: applicants must be at least 21 years old and the application will include wording that an applicant should not have an employment relationship with the district that will exceed $20,000 in a fiscal year. Member Christensen proposed the specific wording for the employment limitation: "I am not under contract to have an employment relationship with the school district that exceeds $20,000 in a fiscal year." The board accepted that wording for the application.

The board set the application deadline for Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, at 4 p.m. to allow administrators to report the number of applicants at the regular Nov. 20 board meeting. Outreach and posting will include the district website, Blackboard/email notices to families, and notices in the Forest Lake Times; the board scheduled email/Blackboard notifications for Nov. 3 and Nov. 12 and agreed to Forest Lake Times publication on Nov. 5 and Nov. 12. Administration will finalize the notice wording and is to include an encouragement that recipients share the announcement with neighbors or community groups.

To manage large applicant pools, the board adopted a subcommittee option: the six current board members will divide into two or three subcommittees as needed to select finalists. Each subcommittee would submit the name of its proposed finalist to the district office by Dec. 1 so the public agenda for the Dec. 4 meeting can show which candidates will be interviewed. The board chair described a parallel voters’ option that would allow up to four candidates who ran in the 2024 election — the highest vote-getter among them would be a voters’ candidate — to be included among finalists if those past candidates submit applications; board members said that option gives voters additional input but does not preclude other applicants.

The board amended the draft timeline to remove a requirement in the MSBA guidance that an appointment "must be done at the first meeting of the month," instead allowing flexibility for a regular or special meeting. The board approved the vacancy timeline and the amendment by voice vote.

Members discussed statutory timing and onboarding. The board noted a 30-day public-petition window in state rules that can apply after an appointment; the board also discussed onboarding Dec. 5–Jan. 5, an official oath Jan. 3 and a ceremonial swearing Jan. 8. The appointed director’s term will run through January 2027, according to the timeline presented to the board.

The board voted unanimously at the Oct. 30 special meeting to approve the application, the vacancy process and timeline, and the timeline amendment; the meeting then adjourned.

What happens next: the district will post the edited application and data-privacy addendum, begin outreach per the schedule agreed by the board, and accept applications through Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. The district administration will report the applicant count at the Nov. 20 board meeting and subcommittees will, if needed, provide finalist names by Dec. 1 for the public Dec. 4 interview session.

Speakers quoted in this article are Board Chair; Doctor Massey; Member Christensen; Member Tyson; Member Corcoran; Member Rebelein; Member Antonin; Member Castle; Member Christensen (name spelling as in transcript).