Embedded Files
Cool Story, Bro- Not Actually True, Though
Oof. Board deliberations for the 3rd round of vacancy applicants during the 5/21 school board meeting was hard to watch. Abuse of power, defamation, and thin-skinned historical revisionism is hard to watch because regardless of policy position, but we should be able to expect honesty and accountability. Also, for a guy who drives a General Lee replica, continues to promote his buddy who drops the R slur "on the regular (her words)," and who has been endorsed by an organization that promotes vouchers, bigotry, and lies about teachers, it is disappointing and unacceptable but not shocking that he'd not only characterize a social media group about district happenings (like volleyball, board meetings, and swim meets) in such inappropriate and hysterical terms, but also defame a community member in the process, which was right after defaming another community member about what Curt interprets as a "violent threat." The police report tells a different story, because Curt lies all the time- at least as much as he does to sneak surprise items on board agendas, abuse Robert's Rules in the least ethical ways possible, and refuse to follow the law about releasing investigative reports and filling board vacancies before the vacancy actually exists...which is illegal.
So here's your periodic reminder that, just like we teach the kindergartners, words matter. Words matter even more for elected officials acting in an official capacity. School board members hold a higher level of responsibility to reflect district values. It is unacceptable for elected leaders who not only insult their colleagues, superintendent, and employees publicly, but also interpret community criticism of policy or rhetoric as "attacks" from "hate groups." Elected leaders have a responsibility to lead with integrity, accountability, and truth, and to accept feedback not just for their words, but for the impact of their words- anything less is undemocratic and poor leadership. It is irresponsible for elected leaders to use their position to read prepared statements that deepen divisions with shaming and historical revisionism, and harm our students, staff, and district's reputation. It's also terrible leadership because giving lies, insults, and reactiveness the headliner spot in meeting after meeting isn't quite the Dale Carnegie approach he maybe thinks it is, AND it's a great way to make sure that no bridges ever get built and for our students to pay the price. You can tell a bully from a leader by how they treat people who disagree with them. But hey- let's talk rhetoric. We'll use quotes.
Yes, Virginia, Experience Matters
As you might know, the school board deadlocked on a school board applicant last December after Rebelein, Antonsen, and Kasel eventually but reluctantly got on board to open up the process to the public, which was of course preceded by Chair Rebelein's attempt to appoint his own hand-selected candidate without any input from the public OR other board members prior to Hagglund's vacancy actually being active in order for Hagglund to vote on his own replacement, which prompted a helpful legal reminder from all sorts of attorneys about not violating state statutes or the best practice of transparency in general.
During the second round of school board vacancy applications that concluded earlier this week, two applicants came forward: Karen Morehead and Princesa Hansen. Karen Morehead spent a couple decades on the FLAS school board and continues to be very active in a variety of organizations in the Forest Lake area community. Princesa Hansen is a district parent and staff member of an online school. The board deadlocked. Again. Although they weren't on Team Princesa at any point when she applied for the vacancy during the first round (including their subcommittee discussion), Kasel, Antonsen, and Rebelein changed their tune, citing things like Hansen's well-roundedness and the encouragement of kids. Antonsen took issue with "not always respectful communication" from Morehead. Kasel wants someone who will plan on running for the seat in November. Rebelein didn't cite anything about either candidate. Per usual, logic and insight made an appearance when Corcoran, Theisen, and Christenson all agreed that Morehead's experience and decades-long dedication to the district and community made her the most qualified to serve the remainder of the open seat. Also per usual, our Parent Alliance-endorsed board members continued a short-sighted and irresponsible pattern of rejecting qualified board applicants because of something that may have been said, heard, or assumed instead of actual practical experience in our schools, and that disregard for relevant qualifications should concern every single community member of this school district given some REALLY important upcoming decisions.
To review, this is a 7 month position, and there are a few decisions in the near future that will significantly impact the operations of the district, its staff, and the experience of our students. Both candidates would be wonderful volunteers for the Kindergarten spring concert, but this is a hit-the-ground-running-with-important-stuff position. Contrary to certain school board members' actions and statements about no qualifications necessary for a board seat (!), experience absolutely matters just like it would for any other non-entry job in the whole wide world. Without it, you get board members who think that the district is running "sex clubs" in its schools and who don't understand why a public school district budget works differently than the local pizza restaurant's budget. It is counter intuitive and also just dumb for public education policymakers to argue that education about something isn't important.
More Questions Than Answers
It was a good week-long vacation of not being in the news for anything dumb, but just like a vacation, not only is reality there to greet you when the plane wheels touch down, now you've got a suitcase full of laundry to deal with, AND it turns you forgot to toss the last of that pasta salad that was already past its prime when you left. Here's a quick Q and not A about the February 12th Forest Lake School Board meeting.
What's Going to Happen on July 1st?
"The last question I have kind of revolves around a bit of a viral video that went out on the Hopkins meeting last month. There was a question about DEI and I can't quote this exactly, but it was something along the lines of 75% of the metrics or the member districts in MSBA didn't support the DEI initiative, but MSBA felt it was important enough that they carried it forward. I don't want to dwell on that, but what I do want to ask is how do you balance MSBA's commitment with DEI with sourcing the very best talent for our superintendent without giving regard to immutable traits?"
Chair Rebelein's question to MSBA's Barb Dorn after her superintendent search presentation. Sigh. Where are we at with actually doing what school districts should do and engage a set of professionals to help us find a superintendent? Presentations by three firms, no decision made. But if there was any question about Rebelein's commitment to manufactured culture war distractions, seek no further than the 1:52:00 mark of the meeting. Rebelein referenced a "viral video" that circulated from a Hopkins school district meeting in order to ask a question about DEI, which Rebelein apparently is confusing for affirmative action. To clear up any confusion, Oxford Languages defines equity as "the quality of being fair and just." To clear up any additional confusion, framing equity as a bad thing is both ignorant as well as dishonest not to mention crystal clear evidence of an unwillingness to be receptive to community members or seek out honest information.
It's embarrassing to know that THIS is the thing he wants to know about at THIS point in the game, but it's not surprising. As the board chair, Rebelein is either well aware that he could have simply looked at the school board page of the Hopkins School District website, found the January 20th meeting (as the date is referenced in the twisted interpretation of the viral video), scrolled through to the 2:32:00 part of the video with the COMMENDATION of MSBA's commitment to equity and a question about specific examples to get the actual context of the meeting instead of blindly trusting an anti-public education guy who claims to "synthesize complex public records" but apparently really struggles to interpret very clear verbal communication, OR Rebelein simply used his position to be performative with a badly executed attempt at a gotcha moment, which is yet another example of poor leadership since attempting to paint the MSBA as a "small group of radicals" deserves laugh-so-hard-you-pee-your-pants-a-little mockery. No one in their right mind thinks the MSBA is a group of radicals, except radicals on the other end of the political spectrum.
But for real, it's FEBRUARY. Dr. Massey announced his retirement in OCTOBER and the school district is still at square one on this. Even assuming that a firm was chosen yesterday, the typical 3-4 month process of finding a superintendent cuts it pretty close to Dr. Massey's last day on June 30th. Does the board chair's leadership and timeline on this issue set up an incoming superintendent and the rest of the district for a smooth transition? It sure doesn't seem like it.
Bundle Up?
"These were bundled due to their strong relationship to one another especially as it pertains to some of the changes that were advised by legal council over the last 10 months or so about addressing lawfare against board members."
For anyone who doesn't follow the Founding Freedoms Law Center or the Heritage Foundation, lawfare is apparently a word made up by radical right-wing law firms and think tanks used broadly to frame ideological differences and accountability measures as Chinese Communist-influenced warfare. The exact criteria for and frequency of lawfare seems a little muddy, but based on a quick Google search, it is almost always a "leftist attack" and almost always used in a court of law about something Trump-related. Apparently only one side of the aisle ever sues, and apparently it's never for a legitimate reason. Still, it seems inconsistent at best for Rebelein to remove school board members and ONLY school board members from inclusion in the Harassment and Violence policy that covers literally everyone else who has almost anything to do with the district. Employees? Check. Volunteers in the Linwood School Forest? Check. The Upper Lakes Foods delivery driver dropping off tater tots at the high school? Check. The Vietnam vet signing into the office at the Middle School for a presentation on Veteran's Day? Check. School board members? Not cool.
Since restoring trust among school board members and the community clearly wasn't a priority during the meeting, here are some verifiable facts that don't come bundled with half-truths and stories:
Fact: "Bundling" of agenda items has NOT been "standard practice" on the Forest Lake School Board.
Fact: The items that were bundled were only about as "strongly related" as literally anything else on a school board agenda.
Fact: The items that were bundled were bundled less than 24 hours before the meeting, suggesting it was a last minute decision.
Fact: The materials for the bundled items were delivered to district admin the same week as the meeting, NOT Friday like Rebelein stated in an email.
Fact: There is zero documentation provided of how Rebelein and former member Hagglund were advised over the last 10 months regarding "lawfare."
Fact: There is zero documentation provided about the prevalence of said "lawfare" against any school board member on the FLAS school board.
Fact: Both Policy 425 and 1121 were revised and adopted less than a year ago.
Fact: These changes were not reviewed by or proposed by district administration or the Policy Committee.
To summarize: The actual proposals to change the Violence and Harassment Policy as well as Criminal or Civil Action Against the District were offered to the public the day before the meeting without any accompanying documents with an explanation, and then a story full of inconsistencies and outright lies and absent of any input from the Policy Committee or administration AND without literally any attorney on record proposing the change was presented to other board members and the public, and that is NOT how elected boards are supposed to function. Elected boards and their leadership are SUPPOSED to function transparently, openly, and with supporting documents provided by appropriate professionals, which is very different than "Look, someone told me this thing, so here it is for a vote" approach. School board members are SUPPOSED to work WITH the superintendent and not around them. Not having your own team give input or advice on policy changes is arrogant and counterintuitive to not only the board's own Code of Ethics, but functionality. In spite of Rebelein desperately trying to get in a "gotcha vote" AGAIN, our responsible school board members thankfully held the line with logic and a lot of very predictable (but poorly answered) questions, and a final request to have the district's legal team review
But Hey- We're Good On Lawyers Now?
Well, no. As it turns out, that wasn't even discussed due to the decision by the Rebelein to bundle it to two other poorly presented policies. Maybe when it comes back, there will be some information provided with that, too, since it'd be great to know who the Beck Law Group is. Given Rebelein's previous anti-union rhetoric, it doesn't seem likely that it'd be Kevin Beck, who advises labor unions on collective bargaining rights. Is it the group that's listed as permanently closed on Google? Is it Alec Beck, who has bounced from firm to firm and got booted from Barnes and Thornburg because he took on the My Pillow nutbar's election conspiracy theory lawsuit and who is also a legal advisor for the very same Midwest Law Group that has built a profile attacking traditional marginalized groups, unions, and the Board of Medical Practice for investigating Scott Jensen's disinformation about Covid-19? See, one can only guess because unlike past practice on the Forest Lake School Board or any municipality in the area, no additional information was provided to the public. If you're noticing a theme of less than forthcoming honesty and transparency, good job for following along.
What Does ECFE Mean?
For the board member who has been on the board for an entire year and doesn't know what ECFE stands for, it is Early Childhood Family Education. It is super Google-able and there is an entire section of the district website dedicated to explaining what it is and the incredibly wonderful work that our ECFE and ECSE staff does for our youngest district learners. And that's not just a brow-furrowing, eye-widening cringe-worthy moment, it also begs the question of how school board members can possibly serve the district and community effectively with informed decisions without even knowing basic things about public education? It is ALSO a shining example of why experience and involvement matter.
Where's the Leadership?
None of the above screams "confidence" or even "competence" in board leadership or the members who seemingly without question vote with him, which is very, very concerning as we hopefully begin a search for a superintendent. None of the above enhances anything about the district or enhances student experience in our schools, and the bottom line is that none of the above is how school boards are supposed to operate. With leadership comes responsibility and ownership. With leadership SHOULD come responsiveness and collaboration. As with the December 4th marathon meeting that lasted 8 hours due to an irresponsible and incorrect interpretation of Robert's Rules by Rebelein, it appears that none of those things are on the table. And it's all at the students' expense and the district's reputation. This community deserves SO MUCH better than distractions and the unwillingness to work with board members and district admin instead of dictating changes under some premise of paternalistic expertise. We deserve so much better than this unwillingness to genuinely lead, and so do our students.
Oh, Come ON.
On a statewide level, we have experienced one horrific moment after another this week. Democracy and safety should always be priorities that are upheld. In the interest of accountability, here's the latest school board update from the January 8th meeting.
For anyone keeping track of the FLAS school board vibe, know that Rebelein's polite and almost affable demeanor at the last school board meeting prior to the holidays was short-lived. The first school board meeting of the year for most school boards is largely about getting all the statutory ducks in a row for the year. For most boards, this is not a controversial or contentious process. The Forest Lake school board, though, is not like most elected boards, so by the end of what could easily have been about an hour-long meeting ended as a three hour long meeting with no approved legal council for the district, no official newspaper delegated for the district, and no committee assignments for school board members. None of this should be a challenge if you've got a board chair willing to work with and not against other board members. In this case, Forest Lake Area Schools has a board chair that is hellbent on imposing what he wants regardless of board member input. And that doesn't work on a 3-3 divided board.
Why should we break up with community newspaper Forest Lake Times and hook up the St. Paul Pioneer Press as an official district newspaper? Rebelein's rationale was that the Forest Lake Times moved out of Forest Lake and into Stillwater, and is therefore no longer local. Unless the Pioneer Press has a super secret local office in town, that makes zero sense, especially given the hometown Times' support of our students and staff for DECADES. Given the comparable cost and the Forest Lake Times' long-standing support of the school district as the community newspaper, it seems a lot more likely that Rebelein maybe just didn't appreciate the honest reporting of the last year... or in 2022, when the Forest Lake Times ran an article that shared community criticism of Rebelein's General Lee replica that displays a Confederate flag.
Next: Why should we let go of the law firm that has been doing business with the district for over a decade and also gives us comprehensive representation? Not sure, since neither Kasel, Antonsen, or Rebelein were able to specify anything substantive due to "a sensitive legal topic we can't discuss," which seems to be less of an indictment of Kennedy and Graven and more of an unspecified petty grudge about the "sensitive legal topic that we can't discuss." When asked directly what his objection was, Kasel's reluctant response was "I...haven't heard good things." To be crystal clear: there was an administrative recommendation to include Kennedy and Graven on the list of legal representation because Rebelein's list did not include a firm that could provide the district with comprehensive coverage.
Finally: Why can't we agree on committee assignments for board members? This one is easy: Rebelein reviewed the board members' preferences and promptly disregarded them, which isn't how leadership works. Leaders work with and are responsive to their colleagues, not force their opinion. This is not an issue of board dysfunction. There are three board members who offered common sense and reasonable input, and that was rejected without any clear rationale by Rebelein, Antonsen, and Kasel. This is an issue of Rebelein's unwillingness to set ego and agenda aside and lead a collaborative board.
Our district and community deserve better.
"You can tell a bully from a leader by how they treat people who disagree with them." (Miles Davis)
The translation of Forest Lake Area Schools school board chair's comments during the 12/18 discussion about the required Ethnic Studies elective might as well have been "I am not only going to question the ability of our social studies teachers to do their jobs, but I am also going to use my position as an elected official to make a seemingly unrelated insult directed specifically at an employee based on a story about texts from students and then state my very narrow interpretation and intentionally incomplete version story of said text message in a public meeting as fact."
It's weird that high school kids are texting the board chair on the regular, but okay. But also, if the board chair is willing to take texts from high school students as gospel, it seems like he should do the same for students who show up and tearfully explain the importance of their affinity groups or the importance of specifically barring hate group insignia in the student dress code. Just saying.
Words from elected people in a leadership position with a gavel matter because the position comes with an extra layer of responsibility to the entire community. This was a swipe at educators and also apparently a very specific educator. Aside from using his position as an opportunity to air a specific (but probably protected by district personnel policy) complaint and also be petty, Rebelein's comments once again reaffirm his inability to respect the backbone of our school district- educators.
His comments also reaffirm his refusal to see all students for who they are and whether they fit into his interpretation of gender roles and identity. After all, the same concern for "a strong instructor" wasn't mentioned about the personal finance course or the trades courses. Just the one about different cultures in the state of Minnesota, wrapped up in "the definition of a boy and a girl." This guy can't seem to go one meeting without dragging his personal agenda into a public meeting or insulting the folks he's supposed to represent. It's embarrassing and not what leadership looks like.
This is also either a call for micromanagement or just some bizarre perception that teachers in Forest Lake are actually seriously telling students that they exist as educators to indoctrinate. Aside from announcing the intent to indoctrinate being probably the least effective way to actually indoctrinate students, most if not all teachers would argue that the indoctrination would likely start with deodorant and phones. That said, if it's the sarcasm that Rebelein objects to, he should know that if laughably inflammatory words like "indoctrination" weren't used to describe the very difficult and foundational work that teachers do in order to make the world function, we wouldn't ridicule them. And the hysterical framing of public education as "indoctrination" deserves nothing short of ridicule.
And ALSO, elected board members need to stop normalizing vague and unverifiable "I heard this thing, so it's OBVIOUSLY true" information, or in this case, insults as fact. We have GOT to get back to being able to actually cite sources and have reputable information, which of course, is very difficult to do when the claim is based on hysteria and nonexistent problems. There was no shortage of throwing out ridiculous attacks on teachers, public schools, and current board members during the 2022 and 2024 school board campaigns by MPA-endorsed candidates, and this certainly isn't the first time that an elected board member has touted Moms for Liberty social panic as truth. There is a special irony of all this in the context of education. We deserve better. Our educators deserve better. Our students deserve better. The community deserves better.
Dysfunction Junction
There was a lot of stuff going on during the marathon meeting of December 4th, but right up there was the inability for the school board to do its job as a body by getting to the rest of the agenda. The rest of the agenda included things like certifying the levy, approving new courses that align with MN State standards, and...paying our staff members and local businesses. Misusing Robert's Rules in spite of legal and professional clarifications as a way to force an outcome on special order of business impacted our itinerant district staff who work at multiple sites in the district, as well as our local businesses when Members Kasel, Rebelein, and Antonsen refused to allow the rest of the agenda to be completed. As when Rebelein, supporting then-member Hagglund, suggested that board members review the vendor list based on how business' values "align" with the district, this is also a jab at our local businesses.
The very last thing that a school board chair should do is to promote an interpretation of the rules that prevents the board from doing its job. At best, it's misguided and at worst, it's unethical. Local businesses should get paid for the work they've done and for the resources they've provided. District staff and students should be able to share the amazing work they're doing. Political agendas should never, ever prevent a district from functioning with pride and integrity. When the commitment to culture wars is stronger than it is to being responsive to all students and stakeholders, it's time to step down. So much for back to basics.
School Board Members Represent The Community. All Of It.
The short story? Show up at the District Office on Wednesday, December 10th at 6pm and support our school board members who are in it for the kids.
The longer story? It's not to say that elected officials aren't entitled to their political beliefs; it just means we focus on students and schools and for everyone because all are represented in our schools and all pay taxes and deserve an inclusive and high quality education. There is nothing "Left" or "radical" about ensuring that every single student who walks through the doors of our schools has what they need to thrive; that is what the district owes its students.
Rebelein gets to have his political beliefs, however he thinks they resonate with the district community. What Rebelein does NOT get to do is embed those personal political beliefs during a meeting in a way that is intended to shame other board members or establish them as agreed upon norms of a school board. A school board chair's role is to be the glue that holds the board together; not the gasoline that inflames it. That behavior and mindset is fundamentally undemocratic, and regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, we SHOULD all be able to agree to and act upon the School Board Member Code of Ethics in meetings, which is there to promote the ability for the board to do business in a transparent and responsive manner to all stakeholders.
"We're going to be in the news."
8 hours. 480 minutes. A full time contract day. About how long the bank or the local pharmacy is open. Also how long the last FLAS school board meeting lasted until it ended at 2 AM, and ONLY because quorum ended ONLY because the three pro-public education board members finally had enough of a clown show that included recurring themes of double standards, condescension, the downplay of qualifications and knowledge, rigidity, and a bizarre fixation on Luke Hagglund, all while failing to understand that elected positions don't "belong" to elected members who, whether out of necessity or choice, vacate their position midway through their term. Long post; not nearly as long as what transpired on Thursday night.
It's not surprising that an agreement on a candidate wasn't reached. What was disappointing, but also not necessarily surprising, was Rebelein's focus on retaliation, arrogance, and abject unwillingness to acknowledge his role as a representative to the entire community, including the teachers, who are the heart of any public school district. Curt made it abundantly clear that he is unwaveringly anti-teachers union. Given that the vast majority of Forest Lake educators are union members, it's also anti-teacher. Several times, Curt made it clear that he wouldn't support an applicant who had been endorsed by teachers unions. Don't like teachers? Fine, although that seems kind of bananas, given the nature of a school board. But also, it signifies that there's no way this guy can do his job with any amount of integrity or respect for the largest chunk of the district's payroll and for negotiating a fair contract. When Curt says "union" as a dirty word, he's also saying "staff" as a dirty word. And we've got a handful of unions in our district to which our staff belong.
And that leads into the double standards. Rebelein apparently has a real big problem with where campaign money comes from, but only if it comes from "teachers unions" because they are somehow mutually exclusive with doing the board member job with any kind of integrity. That said, Curt is knowingly (yes, knowingly because he was able to access campaign finance reports) presenting a false picture when he says he didn't take "a dime" from Minnesota Parent Alliance, but that Jim Smith benefited from a $14,000 mailer to "promote his candidacy." According to the 2022 campaign finance report, Curt benefited from $3,548.21 for digital ads on behalf of Minnesota Parents Alliance promoting HIS candidacy. The problem with all this isn't the fact that there were campaign contributions in general, as that is entirely legit within parameters in the good state of Minnesota. The big problem here is that Curt is comparing apples to oranges in an effort to drag Jim Smith's integrity by neglecting to mention that they both benefited from the same type of independent expenditure on behalf of an organization and not a direct contribution to a candidate's campaign. Additionally, Minnesota Parents Alliance is, in fact, an outside group, while Forest Lake Education Association is not. FLEA is an organization that directly benefits from school board members who are pro-public education, because when teachers are supported, so are students- it's win/win.
Rebelein, Kasel, and Antonsen all accepted endorsements from MPA. Actually, Antonsen definitely accepted money from the GOP, but money or not, it's worth talking about the actual endorsing organizations, because ultimately the endorsements are what tells us about the candidates and board members. Rebelein, Antonsen, Kasel, Ndgiranu, and Hagglund all accepted endorsements from the Minnesota Parents Alliance. Let's talk about that for a minute. If we really want to compare the values of MPA, which is SO TRANSPARENT that they've pulled any information about their values from the website (although in the past, they've linked Moms for Liberty as a "Helpful Resource," which is RIFE with hysteria about Marxism and all KINDS of indoctrination by educators who barely have time to pee throughout their workday, much less time to force students into transgender, US-hating, porn-reading CRT soldiers) and the values of the School Board Integrity Project as well as Education Minnesota, let's compare away! Posted transparently on the website, School Board Integrity Project's pledge includes commitments to principles of integrity, respect, excellence, belonging, and truth with a description for all of those things. The MPA website, which doesn't state what they're "reclaiming" schools from or provide any information for 2024 and 2025 candidate values required for endorsement, still has the 2023 requirements linked in the voter guide, which then leads readers to the Pro-Human (lol) Pledge as defined by FAIR, and THAT'S when we start to see the lies, xenophobia, and anti-trans rhetoric (most clearly at the bottom of the main page in the weekly round-up). They make you work for it, but it's definitely clear who they are after a few clicks, which doesn't scream "transparent" nearly as loudly as the bold letters on the MPA website.
It shouldn't be contentious or polarizing to be honest, and if it is, we should talk about that, too. The criticism of certain policies and school board members' words and positions hasn't been so loud this year because we disagree about who should get the district contract to mow the grass; it's been about refusing to agree on the humanity of children or tell the truth about what our educators are and are not doing. Honesty and inclusion should always be non-negotiable first and foremost as good human beings, but also secondarily as elected officials in a public school district that SHOULD be focused on ensuring that our schools are safe and welcoming for ALL students regardless of background, but that also requires being willing to see kids for who they are and for the experiences that make them who they are.
Chair Rebelein mentioned several times on December 4th that he couldn't possibly consider Jim Smith as a board member, because Jim Smith has openly criticized "the board" in Facebook comments. He couldn't possibly consider Andi Courneya as a board member, either, because he's also spoken out about bad policies. So it's a little wild that he WOULD support his unhinged running mate Laura Ndirangu, who has used the R word, the N word, and when challenged on her positions or asked to cite sources for her claims, has insulted board and community members in the cesspool of Facebook community groups over and over again. So, no- it clearly isn't about "building bridges" at all. And while the idea that the pro-public education group in the community is living rent-free in Curt's head might be considered flattering, it's really not, and here's why: It has become quite clear that our school board chair takes accountability measures and criticism tragically personally, which seems to be a disqualifier for the position. Either a board chair understands and respects different perspectives and is willing to consider other perspectives, or they, like Rebelein, interpret them as attacks. Local government 101 says to expect some criticism as it comes with the job and is integral to a free democracy. Know where it's not cool to speak out against bad policies and rhetoric? Russia. North Korea. Saudi Arabia. China. In some cases, Germany.
And here's the other thing: The MPA-endorsed candidates can't have it both ways. Either they are explicitly aware that there is widespread disapproval from the folks they represent because they're keeping tabs on websites and Facebook comments, or they really are blissfully unaware of the criticism and just super duper okay with how life's rolling along, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense given the references to "screaming" and "attacks" and "spreading lies." Which is it?
If and when the three who took a vote to set a special meeting after quorum ended point fingers about walking out, remember that Rebelein is the same guy who walked out on a vote about our Achievement and Integration Plan not once, but twice. Not after 8 hours of deadlock, either, and based on his own "personal attorney's" advice. He also abstained from a vote to pay teachers for the work that they had already done, citing a "conflict of interest," but not elaborating on what the conflict actually was (the most logical guess is that it had to do with his interpretation of Catholicism, but really it kind of comes down to sanctioning wage theft, regardless). And similarly, in spite of repeated suggestions and motions on December 4th to at LEAST pay the bills (which includes local business owners, itinerant district staff, and other vendors), Curt loudly rejected the idea, closely followed by Tessa and Mark.
All three have tried to suggest that they value and respect local business owners, but again, they can't have it both ways. Either they value and appreciate them, or they call for local businesses to be evaluated based on their owners speaking out against bad policies and refuse to pay them for the work and resources they've provided the district, neither of which should sit well with business owners in a trash economy and dealing with the impact of federal policies on their economic survival.
There's a clear pattern of disregarding professional guidance from folks with extensive knowledge, and that's a really poor and inexplicably arrogant way of running a show. A school board chair is supposed to work WITH a superintendent, not OVER a superintendent. Dr. Massey suggested not once, not twice, but at least six times that the board has the legal authority to pause the process and seek further legal clarification, talk more to the candidates, and amend the resolution so that at LEAST the board bills could get paid. In spite of Karen Morehead's stump speeches upon her exit at 12:30 AM...and then re-entrance at about 1:30 AM, Antonsen (who took the position that 40 years of experience in education wasn't a "requirement" for being on a school board), Kasel, and Rebelein continued to ignore suggestions that the board seek some guidance from the experts.
Gotta hand it to them for consistency, though. As with the attempt to violate state statute by putting his own guy Doboszenski up for a vote with Hagglund as a voting member prior to the vacancy actually existing, the Title IX letter disregarding the Minnesota Human Rights act and the state constitution, and his own two cents on policy revisions, Rebelein doesn't have a great track record for actually listening to the experts or doing things by the book, also evidenced by his attempt to get a final vote on Doboszenski AFTER quorum was broken and Theisen was physically on her way out the door. So much integrity and respect for democracy. And good lord- can Rebelein please stop saying that vacancies are "usually" filled by the next highest vote-getting in the last election? Because THAT is also a lie. It's not how the district itself has handled vacancies, and it's not how area municipalities have handled vacancies.
By the way, when Rebelein says that Hagglund planned on abstaining from the vote on the future vacancy, he's also lying. Hagglund himself told reporters that he planned on voting on the vacancy. And on that same subject? Rebelein also lied when he said that they hadn't received any complaints about Hagglund. Board members not only received emails, but complaints were covered in the press, and folks showed up to school board meetings to say as much, especially when Hagglund suggested that the district not do business with business owners who cause "major disruptions" (by "major disruptions," Hagglund meant the people who showed up and spoke firmly but respectfully within the time limits of their open forum slot). But also, if Rebelein is reading the Board Watchers website, then he is certainly aware of community criticisms of Hagglund.
In any event, the board chair repeated several times that he would not, under any circumstances, support either Courneya or Smith, so it was inauthentic at best for him to talk about the other board members as "locked up" any more than anyone else sitting at that table. It was also inauthentic when he needled Corcoran about her political motivation. To her credit, Corcoran simply affirmed her commitment to appointing someone with a depth and breadth of experience in public education, but that didn't stop Rebelein from expounding on his delusional fears of a "democrat supported board" and a "political takeover" that a Jim Smith appointment is perceived as in "the community." School board business is NONPARTISAN, but let's reiterate that out of all the people on the school board, only Antonsen and possibly Kasel (he mentioned it to Antonsen in the December 4th meeting, but didn't identify all his donors in his campaign finance records) have taken partisan money in their campaigns when at least Antonsen accepted $300 from the Minnesota Republican Party of Senate District 33, which has a specific goal in its bylaws of electing Republicans to school boards. It must be really exhausting to constantly have to rationalize bad behavior instead of just acting like a reasonable person.
So when Curt said he's "tried extremely hard to keep the dialogue positive," he lied. He kindly looked up the definition of "must" for the board members who challenged his interpretation of Robert's Rules and state statutes. He suggested (with all due respect, of course), that Christenson read Robert's Rules, as it was written 150 years ago. He publicly questioned whether they'd need to replace Jim Smith as a board member in 3 months due to family issues. He dramatically argued that the teachers union was going to sue him if they didn't appoint someone that night. He sarcastically expressed dismay at the idea that Christenson might be "lulling" the board into a "false sense of security" by calling for a vote on Doboszenski. He insulted previous board members' participation and political affiliations (again, not relevant for school board business). He also referred to his continuation of the deadlock as "slave driving." Not only is that NOT trying extremely hard to keep the dialogue positive, that is also not behavior consistent with the qualities of a school board chair. Big credit to Jill Christenson for pointing out that Curt's favorite candidate made a point of saying that his biggest lesson in life was how no one is worse than a liar. And Curt is a liar.
School board chairs are supposed to lead with a student-centered focus, not whataboutism sidled with a horribly misplaced sense of martyrdom. They are supposed to communicate clearly and honestly so that the other board members and the public understand exactly what is happening. They are supposed to be the "glue" that holds the board together and to model all parts of the School Board Member Code of Ethics. That hasn't happened in a while, and it certainly didn't happen during the unnecessarily 8 hour meeting in which Rebelein did his best to explore all avenues of getting his guy appointed. One more time, the behavior of an individual in a leadership position hellbent on enforcing an agenda has made the news instead of anything that this community can be proud of. Jill Christenson, Gail Theisen, and Julie Corcoran deserve an enormous round of applause for hanging in there and doing their best to do right by our students and schools. Dr. Massey deserves an enormous round of applause for trying to infuse some common sense into the discussion. Email them all. Let them know it.
Curt and Tessa have said a number of times that those "online groups" tell lies about them, so if any of you would like us to cite our sources for ANY of this with a timestamp from the meeting or website, please don't hesitate to make the request, because honesty is important.
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11/26/2025 Update
Accountability, transparency, and honesty matter- especially when it involves deciding whether a board applicant will embrace those values when creating policies for our school district and district students. Policies like whether the student dress code will continue to explicitly prohibit specific hate symbols, whether community members (including local business owners) continue to be allowed to share input at school board meetings, whether ALL students are supported and valued, whether the district's Strategic Plan gets dismantled in the same way that the Minnesota Parent Alliance board members forced the removal of academic achievement goals for our BIPOC students from the district's Achievement and Integration Plan, and the approach we take in deciding who will be our next superintendent.
The clearest lesson that we've learned over the last 10 months is the importance of local elections and what happens when board members lead with a political agenda centered around manufactured culture war non-issues instead of responsiveness to the community and student-centered issues. On December 3rd at 5 pm, applicants will be interviewed for the open seat on the school board, and we need to pay attention. Some of the candidates have resumes that illustrate a commitment to the school district and its students through previous leadership roles in the district, membership on district committees, and advisory roles for student groups. They have an understanding of how public education should work, what makes our district a great place for students and staff, and what it means for all students to be Rangers. We also have a handful of candidates who have seemingly popped out of nowhere or have earned some community notoriety with their own words and behavior that is incompatible with the role of a school board member in a public school district.
The community isn't privy to the applicants' resumes and applications, and only two applicants have previously run for school board, so our information is limited. You are encouraged to check the public, verifiable information that we DO know about some of the candidates located to the left. As with any elected official, it's important to have an idea about who the candidates who aren't already involved with our schools are and how they will serve our district.
Make a plan to attend the interviews on Wednesday, December 3rd at 5pm. Bring a sign that communicates your demand for a pro-public education school board member to be appointed. And bring a snack and an energy drink, because it's likely to be a long night.
Can't attend? Email the school board at schoolboard@flaschools.org to let them know that you demand a board member who will stand up for all students in the district, and do so transparently.
11/23/2025 Update
There were some changes in dates and process to the appointment process on Thursday night.
Here's what's next: Interviews for the 11 applicants are THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3rd at 5pm. Each candidate gets a 20 minute interview. Laura Ndirangu came in 5th in the 2024 election as the highest unelected vote-getter, so she will automatically be considered, regardless of her interview answers. Here are the candidates who applied: Glen Berg, Andi Courneya, Scot Doboszenski, Princesa Hansen, Laura Ndirangu, Kenneth Rutford, Paul Pease, Jeff Peterson, Tom Schulzetenberg, Jim Smith, and Daniel Tuott.
There is a wide range of folks on that list from folks who've been involved with the school district in some meaningful capacity to some who have had no involvement. There are also some really, really concerning names on that list. Names of people who have willingly spread misinformation and unsubstantiated claims about the district. Names of people who clearly do NOT see all students for who they are. At least one person who has publicly dropped slurs (yes, plural) in an effort just to prove that they can (because "only Jesus" can control her words) and has taken the position that unions (of which there are a handful in the district) are just "leftist woke machines" is on that list (which should make you wonder how that would impact employment in a district that already pays below its surrounding districts).
Here's the deal: we need folks to show up at 5pm on December 3rd, and we need folks to show up visibly supporting the idea that our schools are for ALL students, and that we are better and stronger as a district in which not ALL students look, worship, or identify the same way. We need folks to show up and be very visible about the fact that the families, students, staff members, and community members deserve a new school board member that will collaborate and not collude, and will focus on students and their academic success instead of culture war nonissues that are distractions from student and school-centered policies. We need folks to show up in support of democracy, accountability, and transparency as non-negotiables on a public school board.
The last 9 months have included a string of moments that are embarrassing and harmful to our students and our district, and we now have a tourniquet for the bleeding with a 3-3 ratio of MN Parent Alliance/Moms for Liberty members and pro-public education board members. Show up. Support our current board members who regularly uphold transparency, inclusion, and common sense. Show up and support the process of seating a candidate who will do the same.
It's Been a Minute.
A really, really jam-packed minute for the FLAS school board. The minute kicked off with board member Luke Hagglund's resignation from the school board appearing on the 10/23 agenda, effective at 11:59 that night. Here's the kicker: the very next agenda item on the 7pm agenda happened to be an appointment for the position...that wasn't vacant yet. A hand-picked appointment without any public knowledge of the vacancy prior to an agenda item to fill the vacancy prior to the official time of resignation....for the vacancy. Not democratic, not transparent, and according to state statute, quite illegal. Moreover, as a self-proclaimed "policy guy," it's tough to believe that Rebelein didn't know full well that adding a vacancy appointment to the agenda prior to the vacancy's existence with the soon-to-be vacant member voting on his own replacement was not only a violation of state statute, but absolutely not at all how the Minnesota School Board Association would approach the process. After all, the MSBA itself offers not only guidance in how to approach the process transparently and democratically, but even offers some recommended interview questions for candidates. Unfortunately, it took not only some publicity from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, but a legitimate threat of a lawsuit for Rebelein to do the right thing and pull the appointment from the agenda. We teach our students that integrity matters; shouldn't we expect the same from the adults in the boardroom? And when can we expect the "back to basics" board members to ACTUALLY do any work around issues like academic achievement instead of wasting time and taxpayer resources on manufactured culture war hysteria that does absolutely nothing for our students and schools?
Anyway, that's not the end of the minute. Instead of appointing someone before the vacancy existed and thereby having Hagglund vote on his own replacement during that meeting or appointing during a special meeting, the board voted 4-3 to proceed with a public application process to fill the vacant school board seat. Rebelein, Hagglund, and Antonsen voted against that public application process, but not before the board chair's suggestion that standard practice is for the vacancy be filled by the next highest vote getter from the last election or that it was perfectly legal for Hagglund to vote on his own replacement, both of which suggestions are absurd.
Where do we stand now as of 11/11/2025? The application for community members interested in filling the vacancy is open until November 20th at 4pm. Board member subcommittees will meet at 5pm on December 1st to discuss applicants, and then a special board meeting will be held at 6pm the same night to select applicants to be interviewed. If you are a community member interested in stepping up for our students and our schools by putting students and transparency before political agendas, here's the link to the application: https://www.flaschools.org/our-district/school-board.
(Note the part that says "I am not part of any groups that promote, directly or indirectly, hate or violence against elected officials and/or publicize dishonest information or deceitful propaganda about ISD #831," which most attorneys would agree is an unconstitutional criteria, but when pressed on it, Rebelein fired back via email with "Am I to assume that you actually support the appointment of an individual that is involved with a violent hate group to the board?" Sigh.)
This community owes board members Corcoran, Theisen, and Christenson a huge thank you for holding the line on transparency and democracy, and for continuing to put our schools and students first.
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We didn't write this letter. A district parent and community member did, and we encourage you to read every word of it, get inspired, and then write your own.
Members Corcoran, Christenson, and Theisen deserve nothing but community appreciation for their support of our students and for pushing back on culture war distractions. Members Rebelein, Hagglund, Antonsen, and Kasel deserve some encouragement to do better.
"Hello,
I read the letter that the school board sent to the Education Department on Oct. 2, 2025 regarding transgender students playing sports and am wondering what is your plan to provide opportunities for all students?
FLAHS Career & College planning website says: upon graduation, our goal is to help ensure every student has identified career interests and has a plan in place to be enrolled, enlisted or employed.
If Forest Lake actually means that for every student, then please support all students, not just a select group. Otherwise, I suggest that the slogan be changed to read more accurately to say Exclusive education and extracurricular opportunities for cis-gender, white & straight students to identify career interests and have a plan in place to be enrolled, enlisted or employed.
When a student participates in extracurricular activities such as after school programs or sports, they build skills and experiences that they can put on a resume when applying for the next step of their life. The Forest Lake School Board continues to belittle and remove opportunities for anyone that does not fit the mold of cis-gender, white and straight. By removing such opportunities, you are not influencing or persuading these students to stop being LGBTQIA+ but rather you are continuing to oppress them and adding barriers to everyday life that their peers have the privilege of taking for granted.
Are transgender students welcome in any sports? For example, let's say a person born with biological male anatomy transitions into female and wants to play softball. The Forest Lake School Board will not allow them to play softball with students that were born with a female anatomy, will the trans female be welcome on the male baseball team? Will the trans female be welcome in the male locker room? If any bullying or hazing happens in that male locker room, will you stick up for the trans student and create a policy to not only keep the trans student safe but to hold the bullies accountable for their actions?
You may not accept it or believe it but Forest Lake has students in the community who identify as something other than the binary terms you choose to use. All of our students deserve to be treated as humans regardless of their religion, race or sex. Pull back your lense a bit and instead of seeing students only by their genitals, assume they are all humans trying their best and want to be recognized in a way that makes them feel accepted. Have you ever felt "othered" and not accepted? How would you feel if someone in charge then created a policy reinforcing just how "othered" you are by your community.
The federal government has pulled back their funding for transgender youth and defunded suicide hotlines where kids can call when in crisis. By removing opportunities for LGBTQIA+ students at Forest Lake to participate in extracurricular activities, you will have a direct effect on their mental health. What policies will the school board write to positively impact the mental wellbeing of all students?
My assumption is that the majority of the current school board members are born and raised in white suburbia and have little to no experience with anyone that looks or believes differently than they do. I challenge you to meet and have a genuine conversation with someone who has different beliefs than yourself. Don't try to debate them, but actually ask questions to understand their world views and take the time to understand who they are.
Thank you,
(Parent)"
Just...Ick
We usually save the articles for a different section of this website, but the last few days' news coverage has done a bang up job of connecting the hysterical and inconsistent dots that our board chair majority bafflingly seems to find compelling.
To start with, did you catch the quote from Rebelein in the KARE 11 story? Here's what he said: “I think it’s really important to protect the well-being of all of our students,” said Forest Lake School Board Chair Curt Rebelein, Jr., adding the argument to include transgender students is: “Based on a false premise of gender identity."
Here's a list of medical associations that support that gender identity as a concept. Here's a list of educational institutions that have trans-inclusive athletic policies. There is no false premise of gender identity. The science says so, and that SHOULD hold a lot more weight with district voters than Rebelein's unchecked religious beliefs. There are no boys playing on girls' teams. Trans girls are girls. When Rebelein makes harmful statements like that, he is dehumanizing the very students he represents while setting the stage for even more violence and harm to happen to our transgender students. Set aside the fact that we can expect a big ol' legal battle before funding is pulled because funding doesn't just work like a light switch; it is reprehensible and degrading for elected representatives of public school districts to side with fascist threats than uphold the civil rights of the students of their districts.
Besides the bigotry being said out loud again, the The Forest Lake Times crew deserves some community appreciation for balanced coverage. When I say "balanced," we mean that multiple perspectives are presented, which state coverage seems to struggle with. For example, did you know that there are over 2,000 school board seats in the state of Minnesota? Perhaps 150 publicly elected school board members willing to violate the state constitution and MN Human Rights Act isn't the representation we think. A huge thank you to Corcoran, Theisen, and Christenson for rationally pushing back on the clown show that occurred in the boardroom on October 2nd. And as it turns out, we were right to use "personal attorney" in air quotes when we described Rebelein's explanation earlier, because Rebelein was LYING when he said that HE drafted the letter with his personal attorney, at least according to Prior Lake's board chair (she appears to be in sales, not law).
But that's not a big deal! After all, according to Hagglund and Rebelein, the letter is just their way of having an opinion! Relax, man! Which leads one to wonder....then what was the point of scapegoating our transgender kids in the first place? They can't have it both ways: either this letter is the last stand for protecting ALL the funding with not one second to spare, or it's...no big deal and like, totally whatever. OR, there's a third option and that is that the MN Parent Alliance-endorsed members willingly engaging in trash politics that have nothing to do with the work of a school board because they are incapable of understanding the separation between church and state, and THAT makes every single one of those four unqualified to sit in that boardroom.
Local elections matter, folks.
I Know A Guy!
Board Chair Rebelein had his very own personal attorney draft the letter that seemingly ignores the legal opinion of our Minnesota Attorney General about our state constitution taking precedence over executive orders that conflict with it. Why do you think Rebelein was adamant that his own lawyer draft a letter that basically translates to a loyalty pledge instead of adherence to local guidelines? Our district staff has made it abundantly clear that they are available to answer questions and provide information when requested, after all.
Apparently Rebelein isn't much for national news consumption, otherwise he'd know that the federal government isn't doing much at all right now, but has anyone given any thought to what happens to the district when all of the shock-and-awe from the current administration settles down and the district is found to be in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the state constitution? Because as it turns out, the Minnesota state constitution protects against discrimination based on sex, gender, or sexual orientation, including gender identity, and requires courts to apply intermediate scrutiny for such discriminatory laws.
MDE and the MSHSL are reviewing the letter from U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. It would make sense that education-y people would have better access to education-y legal advice, so the arrogance of an exurban school board member and his unnamed lawyer is cringe-worthy. But there are some SUPER local people with relevant expertise, too! We have a Title IX coordinator who is really good at her job- have her take a crack at it. We pay money to the MSBA for all sorts of legal guidance- maybe someone there? Ooh- how about the law firm that represents the school district and actually specializes in schools and education law? No? Just the secret personal lawyer advising on official school district business? Anyone else smell a potential lawsuit? Interestingly, Rebelein has happily pinned harmful policy suggestions on advice from the district's legal team in the past (which was convenient but not compelling); isn't it curious why he would dodge that law firm....which specializes in schools and education law?
Best guess? It's more of the school board majority's obsession with a political agenda and fake culture war problems than anything even remotely related to test scores or academic achievement or improving the quality of the school district for ALL kids.
Survey Says?
Not Transparent!
At the Forest Lake Area Schools board meeting on October 2nd, a physical copy of this letter was presented to the school board for a vote...as an additional agenda item as it was presented for a vote. After the agenda was adopted without it. Not before the meeting. Not at any point during the day. No emails to board members the day before with a heads up. No email to board members the day of the meeting with a heads up. Why? He doesn't want to talk about it. This was a complete and utter surprise big ticket item that no one had time to digest, research, or ask informed questions about. As board chair, Rebelein used his position to actively prevent other board members as well as the public from the opportunity to understand what was being voted on. No opportunities for community input. No opportunities to understand it. That's bad governing and that's not how a functional elected board operates. It's also wildly disrespectful. That's not how trust is built with school board members, school district staff, or school district taxpayers. This wasn't remotely transparent, and it makes a mockery of the basic democratic processes that bring legitimacy and trust to the school board by district taxpayers. It's embarrassing.
School board members Theisen, Christenson, and Corcoran were right to demand answers about the lack of transparency. There were lots of stops along the way at which point Rebelein could have presented the letter to his colleagues. He literally pulled it out of the materials in front of him as he asked for a vote on it. After the agenda was already adopted without it. That was an abuse of power at the expense of the district's continuously deteriorating reputation and our students, who deserve to have a school board majority that makes policy that provides ALL of them with the supports they need to be successful. Our district community has the right to democratic and healthy policy-making at the school board level. Our school district deserves better than games and surprise culture war topics sprung at literally the very last minute. It deserves better than the clown show that Rebelein and his majority have made out of school board meetings.
Here He Comes To Save The Dayyyy!
Chair Rebelein Is On His Wayyyyyy!
OH! A "renewed focus!" Has anyone told any of the 500 educators in the Forest Lake Area School District that they HAVEN'T been focused on academics this whole time? Has anyone mentioned it to the 2025 graduating class, which represented 94% of enrolled seniors with 134 of whom graduated Cum Laude and higher? School board chair Curt Rebelein says that we've "doubled down on academics with our A and I plan." If you've followed the story of the district's Achievement and Integration Plan, you most certainly smell pants on fire like I do.
For starters, when a school board chair says that we've "doubled down" on academics, it implies that our teachers have somehow been putzing around with whatever this whole time. To suggest that teachers just needed the board to rewrite the A and I Plan in order for them to do their jobs is deeply insulting and he should apologize.
Aside from the insinuation that educators aren't highly trained professionals with integrity, his statement just isn’t true. Until March, our 4 year A & I plan identified gaps in academic achievement between our white kids and our BIPOC kids and had goals to address that gap. Mid-cycle, Rebelein forced a change that simply removed those goals and he did it by holding $800,000 in state funding hostage. To be clear, those gaps still exist; the district's plan just doesn't address them anymore. The school board majority doesn't want to acknowledge them, which is a giant middle finger to our BIPOC students and their families.
The newly whitewashed A & I plan doesn't "double down" on academics; at best it offers activity buses to secondary students for an additional couple of days a week. That isn't doubling down on academics, because a)The "doubled down" plan doesn't include any changes to curriculum or instruction, and b)The district can't force kids to stay after school to work with teachers, and c)There is no longer a focus on WHY we have gaps in achievement.
The current school board majority will tell you that the A & I plan wasn't working. The truth is that the district had mixed results, BUT ALSO the district was only mid-cycle when we halted the work. The challenge around BIPOC gaps in achievement are still there and those students are still owed the efforts to close those gaps. If an educator changed the IEP goals instead of the strategies to achieve them for their students, I promise you that MDE and school admin would have questions. Lots of them. If we can recognize that gaps in learning exist, we have an ethical and financial obligation to address them instead of pretending that they just don't exist. We change HOW we address them, not IF we address them.
So which students does Rebelein think we doubled down on academics for? Remember this wild story when Rebelein and Hagglund are up for reelection in 2026. They will campaign on "Back to the Basics and tout this as an example. But it's a lie like all the other lies the MN Parent Alliance majority tells about Rebelein's General Lee car, Hagglund's threat to business owners, sex clubs in our schools, CRT, and transparency. The unfortunate reality is that this majority is working for an agenda, not our schools and certainly not our students, and we need to hold them accountable.
Are Tinfoil Hats Ever NOT In Season With This Majority, Though???
Rest of School Board: "Hey, it's kinda weird that MSBA policy specifies that administrators can't knowingly be in an organization that advocates for the overthrow of the US Government. Lol, do we really need that?"
Antonsen: "It might seem a little extreme. I mean, but you know, there's people at the legislative level formulating curriculum for Minnesota schools that you openly say that they're a critical race theorist and like the primary thing of critical race theory is overthrow of the government. Like the US. I mean that's serious. I mean, it's on video online. It's openly saying that's what it's about."
You can't actually hear the gasps or jaws dropping on the video, but I assure you there was plenty of both at Antonsen's crazypants suggestion rooted in radical right extremism that also required a series of logical hoops to jump through in order to be remotely relevant. Of course, anyone who has genuinely been interested in understanding what CRT (which has been a thing for over 30 years) actually is knows that it's a theoretical framework in which racism in social institutions is examined. "Overthrow the government" is an awfully hysterical interpretation of "address racism because racism is bad and also still a problem in our country."
While it's really kind of embarrassing that a school board member of a public school district doesn't know how public education works, but the bigger and far more alarming issue is that the sitting school board member is informed by and apparently only by dangerously biased and manipulative sources and THAT is what she is using as a basis to vote on education policy for the district's students. By the way, when school board members so easily throw out the CRT boogeyman card, what it means is that they will be super unlikely to be able to acknowledge and talk about racism in any meaningful way, which is a roadblock to our schools being the inclusive, safe, and welcome environment that ALL of our students deserve, and that is a problem.
It should ALSO be a little alarming that a sitting school board member doesn't understand that curriculum isn't written by legislators. Academic standards are established on a state level. Curriculum to achieve those standards is reviewed and chosen by district administration. Curriculum is actually WRITTEN by curriculum writers, who are frequently former or current educators.
My intent here isn't to make fun of or ridicule Antonsen; it's to point out why elections matter. When school board members base their perception and their votes on conspiracy-riddled misinformation (disinformation, even) from the same think tanks that promote vouchers for private schools, litter boxes in schools, and indoctrination of students, they don’t vote in support of our students or schools because they are distracted with outlandish ideas that would have been disregarded outright 10 years ago. When school board members base their information on agenda-based information instead of the reality that is easily observable should board members choose to spend some quality time in our schools, our students lose. Our community loses. Our district's reputation loses. Again. There's no place for conspiracy theories or culture wars on a school board, period. Even if there's a video online.
The Walkback on Authoritarianism...More of a Dance, Really
"In fact, when member Hagglund suggested we review our vendor list, he specifically..he did on purpose didn't mention any local businesses, but that we should look at this and make sure that the businesses that we do interact with meet our values."
Forest Lake Area Schools board chair Rebelein will have you know that what vice chair Hagglund said in that 7/14 SB meeting isn't what you think. What he REALLY meant was that we should just make sure that the district does business with vendors that align with district values!
And he was SO respectful of local business owners that he didn't even name any! On purpose! In no way was it because he knew that 2 out of 3 of the business owners who spoke in opposition of Rebelein's proposal to remove hate groups from the student dress code had bills in that night's packet. For those keeping track, the VALUES that the business owners showed up to speak about (appropriately, not at all disruptively) were in support of the current specific ban on hate group insignia from our schools. The values that the business owners promoted were for safe and welcoming schools. For those still keeping track, what that would imply is that the "values" that Hagglund is concerned about are ones that no one in their right mind would argue against, especially in an educational environment. Of course, that all assumes that Rebelein wasn't desperately trying to swoop in with a creative twist and salvage some political capital with the local business community (and everyone else), who (and also everyone else) found his buddy's comments deeply disrespectful and wildly unpopular. Pants on fire score of 9.5 and 5th place in every high school novice round of Original Oratory.
But...did Hagglund have anything to say? Yes: "Nailed it." He's a guy of few words, unless he's got a question about funding for shirts promoting kindness or whether the district will continue to have to swallow hard and follow the MSHSL's policy of complying with the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
Don't let 'em off the hook. Both of these elected officials showed their true colors (again) in July by attempting to silence opposition to bad policies. That we are spending time trying to explain and reiterate the need to hear public input, regardless of whether it aligns with their MN Parent Alliance talking points or from which community stakeholder it comes from is embarrassing. Our students and schools deserve better.
OMG Seriously, Keep Your Public Input to Yourself
It took about 7 months, but board members Rebelein and Hagglund FINALLY made the plunge into full-on authoritarianism.
At the 7/17/25 school board meeting, board chair Rebelein believed the best and most productive way the school board should spend its time was about how to penalize people who speak out of order at board meetings, since apparently the current policy of them being asked to leave just isn't enough. His fix?
1- Disruptors will be suspended from all district committees for a year.
2- Two-time disruptors will get trespassed from all district properties.
3- This will be retroactive back to June 1st 2025.
Oh, there’s an appeal process, but the school board isn’t obligated to consider it. And MAYBE disruptors should even be charged with a felony! After all, he's exhausted from the people who “scream at the board” and just “can’t handle being respectful” at a meeting. (A grand total of 4 people were asked to leave at the last meeting)
This proposal, by the way, was added as a last minute amendment JUST before the meeting started. So last minute that Rebelein forgot the printed copies of it at home on his printer- oops! How’s that for transparency?
One of the rich ironies here is that the community disruptors have disrupted meetings a handful of times because their input about schools being disrupted by hate group insignia has been largely disregarded. Rebelein wants more protection against disruption for himself than he does for our district students. Obviously disruptions didn't start out as disruptions (they started out as emails, testimony, a petition, and media coverage) but one of the consistent themes here is that Rebelein and the MN Parent Alliance-endorsed members refuse to acknowledge WHY things like barriers to student groups and hate symbols are upsetting to district students, staff, families, and community members.
This, of course, is completely lost on Mark Kasel, who believes that hate group symbols have nothing to do with free speech. He followed the symbols comment with “If you’re triggered by that, perhaps you need some education,” which seemed like it was either a direct insult to board member Christenson, who pointed out that community members have First Amendment rights, or an argument for not getting “triggered” by symbols. Unfortunately, Kasel didn’t have a 20 year old out of context news clip this time to make his point, so we might never know.
For Luke Hagglund’s part, his position is that the anti-bullying crowd is responsible for harassing and threatening school board members and that they “start screaming the loudest and start making noise” when he’s got a different opinion. What Luke is missing here is that it is HIS JOB to listen to community input, not insult the community. It’s literally in the job description and the code of ethics, so what he’s REALLY saying here is that he refuses to check his own beliefs at the door and couldn’t care less about what the community thinks, which might be super brave when standing up to a silly HOA rule, but hopelessly unethical when you’re a member of a public school board in which ALL community members count.
To be extra clear: An elected school board member just publicly claimed that community members who are critical of board chair Rebelein’s policy proposals are hate groups responsible for making terroristic threats. But Hagglund would be remiss to just be bent out of shape at individual community members. He ALSO thinks that business owners who have an opinion shouldn’t get to do business with the district anymore (he couldn’t think of any specific names right then, though), which sort of sounds like either a threat or a warning, and definitely neglects to recognize that business owners are you know, community members who pay taxes to the district.
Rebelein’s proposal was ultimately heavily amended, but the hell is happening to this district? Huge gratitude to members Christenson and Corcoran for pushing back and demanding better, but the pro-public education school board members are now the minority. Silencing and penalizing critical voices, warning business owners about speaking out, and promoting hate symbols isn’t just undemocratic, it’s anti-democratic. These people were elected to represent the community. Our schools and our students deserve better, and our community deserves to be heard.
Public Input? Hard Pass!
Hey, remember that time that over a span of like 3 months, the public reached out to the school board in its entirety about how they want student clubs to be free of obstacles and outright elimination, and ALSO that they were solidly behind hate symbols being explicitly identified in the student dress code? And how the public communicated that in an impressively comprehensive approach, including thousands of signatures on a petition, emails, interviews with the media, letters to the editor, speaking at meetings, and also a student walk out? And how all that communication was a result of very loudly informing the public of what was going on?
Well! As it turns out, not only was that input not at all in line with Chair Rebelein's personal beliefs and values (or as important to the folks who haven't written, showed up, or done any communicating at all, according to Member Hagglund), but all of that input was APPARENTLY based on filthy dirty fear tactics, vitriol, and a "public smear campaign." As it ALSO turns out, Chair Rebelein doesn't seem to appreciate the fact with lousy policy proposals comes with responsibility. A lot of responsibility, actually. See, when the community is committed enough to be a continual participant in the process of direct democratic participation, it's the responsibility of the school board to listen. And just like when I finally yell at my kids after the 8th time of asking them to clean the upstairs bathroom, the crescendo of noise about Policies 1801 and 515 started softly enough, but accelerated after being repeatedly ignored and dismissed. That, friends, is direct democratic participation- it's actually a REALLY important part of local government. So when Chair Rebelein says "spreading lies" and "deliberately misrepresenting the proposals," it would be great for him to be specific because it really just seems like it's the objection to his bright idea that he considers something that "fans the flames." But his proposal, in the harsh light of the day and on public record, was to remove "Confederate flag, swastikas, and KKK symbols" from the student dress code, and that is what the community clearly objected to. Not only did the community object to it, district administration and the policy committee objected to it.
Nevertheless, he persisted with the objectionable proposal. The bottom line? It's not democratic or acceptable for the chair of a public school district's school board to not only shame the public for having opinions about an agenda item, but then to add on a resentful narrative rooted in arrogance. It's undemocratic and an insult to every taxpayer in the district. We deserve leadership that represents and values ALL of the district.
Why Are MN Parent Alliance-Endorsed Board Members Rationalizing Hate Group Symbols?
Can we talk hate symbols for a minute? As many of you know, Forest Lake schools has just been allllll over the news lately for Policy 515. Currently, Policy 515 explicitly prohibits students from displaying the Confederate flag, the swastika, and KKK symbols. It has for 20 years as a result of a terrible moment of racial harm that will forever be a part of Forest Lake's history and a reminder that there is no "good enough" when we're dealing with racism or any other kind of -ism.
Fast forward to last week when, in spite of the policy committee's recommendation to reject Chair Rebelein's proposal to remove them and instead keep them in the policy, board member Kasel moved to amend the proposal and take them out. His rationale was that the students who wore white shirts the day after the 1997 incident in solidarity with the racist mob of students who physically and violently assaulted a Black student weren't actually WEARING hate symbols. His former running mate board member Antonson chimed in by pointing out the need to "understand the context" of swastikas when (!) kids wear them instead of just banning them outright. It would seem that she actually does feel like allowing swastikas isn’t (!) inherently bad...we just need more information. But wait! Board member Hagglund had a whole other rationale for not specifying hate symbols. His argument was that if we ban the Confederate flag, then we ALSO have to ban ALLLL the other countries involved in the slave trade (but didn't lose a war over it), too! And besides, according to Hagglund, that school board and administration in 1997 should have banned WHITE SHIRTS if those were the problem!
When we open the door to a wait and see approach, we not only create a ridiculous additional work load for our staff, but we ALSO (and this is the important part): create a scenario in which harm happens FIRST and THEN it gets dealt with. The schools are less safe and less inclusive FIRST and then there's a convo about it. Families leave the district and community AFTER that. Your property values drop and our community continues to be an embarrassment after, too. Do the MN Parents Alliance-endorsed board members understand that the harm ALREADY happened? It's been explained to them repeatedly, so they apparently just don't care.
Kasel Says We Can't Get Rid of Racism Until We Stop "Calling It Out"
Here is Kasel's response to a community member's question about the district's Achievement and Integration plan and his failure to adequately report on the folks who showed up to voice concerns about it in a listening session that he attended.
Kasel's wildly misguided opinion is that a) Our students are responsible for rejecting their own culture and identity and assimilating to "American culture," and b)"Financially challenged" people apparently includes all of our BIPOC students. Whatever he thinks "American culture" even is, does this sound like someone who will support all students or understands what racism is?
"One of the teachers has a concern that the board would be coming after books in the school because the books have all kinds of stuff about different kinds of people um and that I had mentioned that so it was Morgan Freeman was being interviewed on 60 Minutes and he said that we're not going to get rid of racism until we stop calling it out."
On May 29th, Kasel uses a 20 year old Morgan Freeman interview with Mike Wallace to make his point about why we shouldn't create racism by talking about it. He told the room overflowing with visitors to look up the very well-known video. So we did. That said, Morgan Freeman isn't more of an authority about our high school affinity groups than our students are, or that Morgan Freeman ALSO said that American history is Black history and we need to stop profiling people based on race and that the Tea Party made racism worse in 2011. in 2020, he dedicated his social media platforms to people sharing their experiences with racism.
It would be GREAT if Kasel listened as closely to students who have shared their experiences with racism in our schools and with the affinity groups that have been so important to their academic success.
Of course, both of these moments are merely a reiteration of what Member Kasel had to say way back on January 16th, which included the following statements:
"Pointing it (racism) out causes it."
"I have a problem with safe spaces."
"This seems to be segregation as opposed to integration because they're (the students) separating themselves."
Did Tessa, Mark or Luke even read the policy before they spoke or wrote on it? Or do they purposely mislead with their replies like Curt?
Did Tessa, Mark or Luke even read the policy before they spoke or wrote on it? Or do they purposely mislead with their replies like Curt?
This is the draft version of policy 1801 with language stricken that would have allowed clubs at the Middle School. What does that say to you?
"I'm/this is not eliminating clubs in the middle school." - said multiple times by multiple board members...pants on fire score 10 ...or...they have no idea what is going on. Member Antonsen takes to Facebook and we have some questions...
Words matter. The press is writing based on statements from Curt Rebelein, Jr. Statements that were either misleading, vague, or outright untrue. It is hard to tell because we have all experienced this in his responses to our emails, at listening sessions, and in the board room.
"It is also worth noting that there are currently NO limited open forum groups at the MS and there hasn’t been for at least 15-20 years. ALL MS groups have been sponsored and thus subject to 1510." Curt, implying that this would not affect the Middle School, however, upon further pointed questions..."Those groups would be limited open forum in the future. In 24/25 and previous years, the district paid advisors, thus making them sponsored activities." Meaning, under his proposal, groups like the Open Minds Club would have been eliminated by this policy, and he purposely spoke in a way that, while technically true, was misleading on purpose. Pants on fire score - 7
100% of the policy group voted to allow in Middle School and under that, plus much other public pressure, including email, media, and a student walk-out, the Middle School was added back to the policy.
"Why is the LGBT pride flag not part of the list?" Curt Rebelein, Jr.
"Why is the LGBT pride flag not part of the list?" Curt Rebelein, Jr.
Referring to the 2025 version of the 515 policy that lists KKK, the swastika, and the Confederate flag as prohibited in schools. Curt had proposed removing that list from policy.
See articles in the news section for more - this final policy meeting of the 2025 school year had an overflow crowd to hear what the board chair and author of most policy, Curt Rebelein, Jr. would say about the activity policy and they were treated to a surprise when he revealed that he also rewrote 515 (dress code) to remove the ban on the Confederate Flag, swastika, and KKK to allow 'freedom of expression'. Curt Rebelein, Jr. promotes the Confederate Flag any time he drives his car, a restored General Lee, but what he does to share his own opinion of hate symbols should NOT be reflected in Public School Policy.
It is also unclear if Member Rebelein has any idea what goes on in any club as he is getting his information from Middle School students who didn't attend a meeting. High-class research going into our policy decisions...
It is better than what Member Kasel thinks is going on (see next) - nobody knows what or how he gets his information but it is always... interesting.
Kasel believes there are sex clubs at the middle school?!?
Kasel believes there are sex clubs at the middle school?!?
In the listening session on May 29, 2025, Member Kasel had many quotable quotes, starting with a deep misunderstanding of the difference between sex, gender, identity and...the physical act of intercourse (we are talking MIDDLE SCHOOL, it makes us cringe even reporting on this.)
"The A&I Plan as written is unpalatable to this board". "It would fail a vote". Curt Rebelein, Jr.
"The A&I Plan as written is unpalatable to this board". "It would fail a vote". Curt Rebelein, Jr.
This statement is from the listening session regarding the A&I rewrite to remove any help or even mention of race so the plan would get board approval and continue funding for the school. The new majority of the board, led by Curt Rebelein, Jr., rewrote the state-approved plan in the third year of a 3-year approval to eliminate race. They said they would prefer to lose the funding than keep the plan as written, which included assistance and funding for affinity clubs and culturally responsive teaching.
This is the quote that started most of us watching the board. We don't have a flashy graphic or picture, just our stunned realization that this was not just one policy, this was going to be a board we needed to watch closely to keep racism, sexism, regressive ideas and extreme conservative politics out of our schools.
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