KAXE contacted every candidate twice using contact information submitted to the Secretary of State's Office to invite them to participate in our Election Guide.
Candidate responses have not been edited and are published as submitted.
As necessary, our news team added contextual information clearly marked with an "editor's note" and in italics, though responses have not been uniformly fact-checked. With our small team of three, we are unable to proactively fact check every statement made by candidates. But we will make every effort to make note of inaccuracies if they come to our attention.
Please contact our news team at news@kaxe.org with questions or comments or to report any errors.
KAXE's Election Guide only includes candidates in contested races. Visit our full list of who's running for office in Northern Minnesota to see who else is on the ballot.
Ethan Browning
Incumbent: No
KAXE did not receive a response from this candidate.
David Cowan
Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: 47
City/Township of residence: Unorganized (Deer Lake)
Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
L&M Supply, Inc. | Executive Vice President
Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
Vice President Operations, Management Consultant Business Owner/Principal Consultant, Project/Program Executive
Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
Research, develop, and implement strong policies for the district; empower the Superintendent to execute the policies developed by the school board; listen to and consider feedback and input from the district's stakeholders.
Why are you running for office?
I am running for school board because I care deeply about the present and future of our community and our schools. I feel that I can bring insight, knowledge, and capabilities from my professional career to help guide the strategic direction of the district.
What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific goals.
My three core principles are: 1. Education is a partnership. 2. Education quality matters. 3. Investing in the future with fiscal discipline and transparency. Outside of these principles, I don't have specific goals established. This is because I believe it's important to understand the state of the strategic plan and the current results/progress before establishing specific agendas or goals.
What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing your district, and how do you plan to overcome them?
Although I believe there is a great deal of pride in our schools, our teachers, and our staff, there is some fractured community support. This is especially evident in the financial situation we are in at this point. I plan to overcome these by listening to district stakeholders, partnering with our legislators in St. Paul, and working as a board to find a solution that focuses on providing a great education for our kids that is financially responsible.
High taxation is a concern for many Northern Minnesotans. Please share any specific opinions you hold related to taxation, and how you plan to ensure tax dollars are used efficiently and effectively.
High taxation is certainly a hot topic, especially coming off last year's referendum. My opinion is that taxes should be kept as low as possible while providing the best possible services for those dollars collected. That said, I am a big believer in investing wisely. I would rather pay more to give our children a great education experience that sets them up for success in their lives. I also am a big believer that success breeds success and if we can help more kids succeed, this will pay dividends back to our communities.
How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in your school board?
I plan to be open and approachable to members of the community, where all perspectives are at least considered. This does not mean that everyone has to agree, but I do believe that all sides of issues should be heard. I feel very strongly on this topic and in my professional career, I will often times play the role of the "Devil's Advocate" to ensure teams or groups don't fall into the trap of groupthink. I believe that healthy conflict and dialogue is what drives great decisions.
Ashley Goodman
Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: 40
City/Township of residence: Grand Rapids/Harris Township
Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
Americorp Reading Interventionist
Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve been a very active parent volunteer, as I have 4 kids in the district. I worked hard to start up the PTSA, and with the help of that group of parent volunteers, we have had many accomplishments!
We have been able to raise funds for teachers in need of supplies, as well as offer students secondary supplemental educational opportunities. With our hard work, over $10k has been raised.
I work closely with the Athletic Office and I sit on the board for the High School Swim Team. Currently, I’m working at East Rapids part-time as a Reading Corps team member.
I am pro-public Education! I believe in supporting our educators, I believe in a quality education and supporting families of all varieties. I also believe in fiscal responsibility and finding a balance between the reality of the district’s financial situation and the needs of the public.
My goal on the board is to aid in bridge the gap in communication between the community and the school board. I’ve already been doing this for many years, but I’d like to apply all that I know and understand to the task of a school board member.
Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
As a school board member your role is one that works with other members of the school board as well as the superintendent in order to make decisions for staff and educators and the students.
Why are you running for office?
I am pro-public Education! I believe in supporting our educators, I believe in an equitable education as well as one of quality as well as supporting families from all walks of life. I also believe in fiscal responsibility and finding a balance between the reality of the district’s financial situation and the needs of the public.
What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific goals.
My goal on the board is to aid in bridging the gap in communication between the community and the school board. I’ve already been doing this for many years, but I’d like to apply all that I know and understand to the task of a school board member. I present the truth with fact-based information.
What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing your district, and how do you plan to overcome them?
Funding, transparency in communication and teacher burnout are all huge concerns facing our district at this moment. My goal is to meet with legislators and work with them in order to help fund our district. I want to be the ally for the community when it comes to hearing their wants and needs and I want to make sure that teachers are being given the opportunity to have open and productive communication with resolutions that are conducive to their needs.
High taxation is a concern for many Northern Minnesotans. Please share any specific opinions you hold related to taxation, and how you plan to ensure tax dollars are used efficiently and effectively.
With the state not allocating the correct funds to our district, we face raising taxes to our community members. In order for this to change there are a few ways to help this. We hope to speak to legislators in order to approve the homestead tax as well as making sure that the inflation rate can be properly reintroduced allowing all school districts to be funded correctly
How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in your school board?
I am trustworthy, approachable, and will be open to all feedback and ideas. I appreciate honesty and will always use that approach. I give 100% fact-based information even when it may not be what people want to hear.
With my knowledge and the hours invested in the schools, teachers, and community, I am the right choice for one of ISD 318’s school board seats.
Thomas Gustafson
Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: 53
City/Township of residence: Grand Rapids
Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
Barr Engineering. Senior Electrical Engineer
Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
My professional career I have been involved as a manager. Previously I was an operations manager of a small car wash equipment manufacturer and most recently as a project manager at an engineering consulting firm.
Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
As a member of the school board I believe that it is my responsibility to help develop clear expectations for the schools. Evaluate the district as it works to achieve these and provide clear feedback on its performance. I need to hear the concerns the voters, parents, students and the district and make sure that these are considered appropriately.
Why are you running for office?
I have a grandson that is currently enrolled in East Rapids Elementary. I want to make sure that he and all other students are provided with a safe and healthy environment where they can learn and develop skills to become productive members of society.
What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific goals.
My first priority would be to restore elementary school librarians. This would be followed by establishing a long-term balanced budget, improving student scores, keeping the focus on education and improving the trust between the voters, parents, students and the district.
What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing your district, and how do you plan to overcome them?
Budget. The district recently experienced a failed operating referendum vote. Due to this changes have been implemented to balance the budget. The effectiveness of these changes are not fully understood yet. I feel that with this and the effects of inflation the district will continue to experience budget challenges moving forward. I hope to bring my experience in managing projects to assist in developing longer term solutions to the Budget.
High taxation is a concern for many Northern Minnesotans. Please share any specific opinions you hold related to taxation, and how you plan to ensure tax dollars are used efficiently and effectively.
I am very concerned about the burdens that we are placing upon taxpayers. The state funding is very challenging to navigate. I feel that there are a number of disparities that make outstate schools at a disadvantage. One that stands out is operating referendums and the fact that they do not apply to recreational property. This has little influence on taxpayer burden in the metro area, but has a large impact on the residents of rural districts. I would advocate highly at the state level to review state policies like these. I also feel that we need to review many of the state funding formulas to see if they really make sense. The state attaches many mandates to funding that make me question if they actually result in an overall loss for the general budget and should therefore be discontinued. We know that the state level is pushing a lot of requirements down on the schools with some having no consideration on how the district is supposed to fund these new programs. I think the recent state push to ISD318 on the Thunderhawk name change is a perfect example of the lack of foresight at the state level as they have provided no funding for these changes and expect the schools to deal with it on their limited general funds.
How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in your school board?
By actively listening to people. As a voter I have felt very frustrated by some of the actions of the district. A few years back the voters were asked to vote on a capital referendum which failed. Years later the district went ahead and installed much of the equipment that was requested in the capital referendum and shortly followed by requesting an operating referendum from the voters. I do not know the details of how these additions were funded, but actions like these do not allow for trust with voters. I would make sure that when the voters speak through their vote the district recognizes this and is willing to accept the outcome even if it is not the desired result.
Stephanie Lipscy
Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: (Field left blank)
City/Township of residence: Grand Rapids/Arbo
Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
CEO and founder of my home and family.
Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
Raising, teaching being home with my four children 24/7 qualifies me in more ways than not. I know the innermost working of children of all ages; how they learn, think, feel, act and react, amongst their wants and needs.
I also have been the account/bookkeeper/treasurer for my church, creating and keeping budgets, paying bills, balancing books, etc .
Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
To set, modify and supervise district policies, procedures, and curriculum. To be responsible both financially and academically. Also take direction from the constituents and parents alike.
Why are you running for office?
I cannot stand by and complain about the current state of the district, without stepping up and doing my part to fix the issues. I want to make sure the district is operating adequately by both parental standards and by financial standards.
What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific goals.
To ensure and advocate that parents have the only and final say in their child's education, health and overall wellbeing. I will fight for the parent's rights to be involved in every aspect.
I will work towards helping to give the taxpayers a break. A majority of our taxpayers are on a fixed income and cannot afford to have constant tax increases. I will strive to keep a balanced budget and do away with wasteful spending.
I will work to help bring stability not only to the students' educational environment, but as a direct effect, their personal environment too. Plain and simple, children need stability. Whether they are worried about getting enough to eat, having a home to go to at the end of the day, safety, grades, making friends, or their family dynamic in general, these children unfortunately have enough to stress over. With the ever-changing world today, the last thing these children need, is an ever-changing school environment. I want to bring the focus back to the core of education. There should be little to no focus on worldly, controversial or adult issues. Once we have less controversial topics, the end result will be parents being more comfortable with the school system their child is enrolled in.
What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing your district, and how do you plan to overcome them?
-Parents not feeling heard or communicated with
-Parents not being able to parent their children as they see fit
-Mismanaged money, wasteful spending and overtaxed citizens
-Too many controversial issues being focused on instead of the nuts and bolts of education
Each of these issues need their own separate meeting focused on the problem and the resolve.
I want to hear from constituents, staff and parents, etc.
What is their complaint? What is their solution?
Can we come up with a successful, adequate policy or procedure to resolve any of these issues as far as parent/staff communication?
Come up with an action plan/agreement for parents being the sole decision maker for their students.
I cannot fairly comment on an action plan for the budget, until I see budget vs. spending. I would like to see where the money is currently being spent, and where the "fat" can be trimmed. Comparison pricing, cutting bonuses, etc. are all ways I envision making changes. Where is the unnecessary spending coming from?
Recap where the current curriculum is vs. what it should be and shift it accordingly
High taxation is a concern for many Northern Minnesotans. Please share any specific opinions you hold related to taxation, and how you plan to ensure tax dollars are used efficiently and effectively.
I strongly disagree with taxing the citizens of Itasca any more than they already are. I have always voted against the referendums. As I said above, I would like to see where we can rework the budget to cut the wasteful, unnecessary spending. Cut bonuses and instead, funnel our spending into what make students thrive.
How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in your school board?
Implement transparency and communication into policy and procedures. Make sure staff is communicating with families adequately. Monthly Q&A or reviews between parents and staff. Hold weekly, bi-weekly or monthly meetings via zoom if necessary, until issues are resolved. My email is always open and I plan on addressing any issues brought to my attention, in a timely manner.
Janet Awesome Miller
Incumbent: No
KAXE did not receive a response from this candidate.
Larlin Neumann
Incumbent: No
KAXE did not receive a response from this candidate.
Glenn J. Pearson
Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: 64
City/Township of residence: Wabana
Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
Self Employed Owner Veterinarian
Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
I have been in education for over 60 years and a business owner for 40 years as a veterinarian.
Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
Represent the taxpayers of District 318 in ensuring our young people receive the best education possible. This will include budgetary manipulations to make possible proper funding of core education and trimming of non-mission critical enterprises. I will deliver honest transparency to all parents and taxpayers in District 318.
Why are you running for office?
I believe a fresh look at the causes of why the students in our district are not measuring up to standards even thought we are spending over $13,000 on each of them each year. I believe too much past union representation on the board has pushed student performance to the back of the bus. Smart change must come and I will bring it.
What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific goals.
Transparent review of all curriculum and related budget items to ensure effective education and fiscal efficiency match up. Weeding out non-core classes and propaganda such as CRT and SEL is critical. Education is not a new concept in civilization. We know what has worked in the past and just need to get back to basics. Merit pay for the best teachers is crucial to attracting the best educators. American history circa 1980's and/or Civics should be a part of every grade level. Any aspects of anti-American cultural Marxism must be eradicated.
Editor's note: Critical Race Theory or CRT is an area of study that examines systemic and institutional racism. Nationally, there is a trend to expand education on racial inequality in schools, including a new ethnic studies requirement in Minnesota starting in 2026. CRT is not being taught in k-12 classrooms.
SEL is an abbreviation of social-emotional learning. SEL teaches students positive relationship skills and how to understand their emotions.
What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing your district, and how do you plan to overcome them?
The biggest challenge is the inertial resistance due to entrenched methods and materials and the fallacy that more money is always the answer to systemic failures and bloated administration. Reducing the influence of outside unions that are manipulating educators and consistently producing poor performance. There is plentiful proof of the teacher's union having little concern for the education of students.
High taxation is a concern for many Northern Minnesotans. Please share any specific opinions you hold related to taxation, and how you plan to ensure tax dollars are used efficiently and effectively.
If District 318 were producing a "quality product", there would be little resistance to current investments in education. The real resistance to more taxation comes from the obvious failure to produce top quality student performance. The higher education market demands better levels of education and knowledge and so do the taxpayers.
How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in your school board?
I will place 1-2 non-school, non-union parents in every class for every day. Their perspectives will provide the unbiased reality of what are children are facing every day. Their reports will be summarized and made available on line to all parents. From that data, we should be able to formulate a plan of action to correct the educational plan for our kids. In addition, the "workshops" that have been secreted in the past, will be open to the public to see what outside influences are allowed to impact the school board and therefore our children indirectly. Trust will grow from full disclosure.
Brian Vroman
Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: 56
City/Township of residence: Grand Rapids
Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
I am an instructor at Minnesota North-Itasca Campus
Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
I have over twenty-five years of experience in higher education, and I have served on numerous boards and commissions.
Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
I am running for school board. It is the role of the school board to set policy for the district and to oversee district finances.
Why are you running for office?
I am a strong believer in the importance of public education, and I want to help ensure district kids have an opportunity for the best possible education.
What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific goals.
District 318 is facing difficult financial challenges. I want to address these challenges in the most effective way possible, while maintaining high educational standards and minimizing impact on employees.
What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing your district, and how do you plan to overcome them?
The biggest challenges currently are financial. I will do my best to address them while attempting to minimize negative impact, and I will also do my best to build relationships with local legislators in order to secure their support for more state assistance.
High taxation is a concern for many Northern Minnesotans. Please share any specific opinions you hold related to taxation, and how you plan to ensure tax dollars are used efficiently and effectively.
Schools receive much of their funding through property taxes. Nearly twenty percent of the property tax base in district 318 is recreational property. Revenue from this property use to go to local entities, including school districts, but approximately twenty years ago, the state changed to law so that it would go directly to the state. There is at least some bipartisan support in the legislature to return these funds to local school districts. This would not constitute a tax increase, it would simply be a change in where the money is sent, but it would help the district and area taxpayers enormously.
How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in your school board?
I am committed to openness, honesty, and transparency, and if elected, I will hold periodic listening sessions with the various stakeholders in the district.
Still have questions for the candidates? Contact information for all those who've filed to run for office can be found at candidates.sos.state.mn.us.
