Election Winners Sworn In, Look to Schools’ Future

After its annual reorganization meeting Tuesday night, the Ramsey Board of Education looks much like it did before. The three incumbent board members who were elected last month – Tim Finnegan, Claudia Monteith, and Carrie Williams, were all officially sworn in to re-take their seats on the board for new three-year terms.

Tuesday night, board members nominated Tony Gasparovich and Carrie Williams to be President and Vice President of the volunteer board, and the two were unanimously voted in to resume the roles they held on the board during the last school year.

Gasparovich thanked his fellow board members for the vote, and prepared a statement saying he is looking forward to the 2013-14 school year. After a busy year that included hiring an interim and new full-time Superintendent, replacing four building principals in the district, installing new state mandates like the new teacher evaluation system, approving a teacher contract, and starting a new iPad initiative that is set to expand next year, Gasparovich said this year is off to a calmer start.

“We have already completed the first leg of our journey,” he said, by hiring all of the district leadership positions that were vacant at this time last year.

During the annual meeting, board members also mentioned initiatives that are on the horizon for the Ramsey School District, including an updated security system that will be installed at the high school this summer, the consideration of additional security measures, reopening contract negotiations with the teachers’ union, and monitoring the progress of a proposed apartment complex in Ramsey and its potential impact on the school district.

During the meeting, district Business Administrator and Assistant Superintendent Bob Marcotulli announced election results that included mail-in ballots not considered in the initial counts.

According to Marcotulli, this year’s school budget passed by a vote of 1,186 to 340. The budget was passed by the largest margin in the Ramsey school board’s recorded history, officials said.

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