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By Ayanna Eckblad

Longtime school board member and retired educator and coach Neal Skaar filed on Wednesday for what he plans to be his last term for the Albert Lea school board.

Skaar, 78, was born and raised in Hayward and attended Albert Lea schools up until his graduation in 1964. He attended Luther College and graduated four years later with an education degree, specializing in math and English.

Skaar spent 46 years as a teacher at Albert Lea High School, teaching math, English and humanities. He retired from teaching in 2014. He also coached wrestling for many years and was even inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame — Minnesota Chapter in 2019.

Skaar said he did not want his time in education to be over after retirement. He ran and was elected onto the Albert Lea school board in 2016. He is about to end his second term. In total he has served almost eight years. He regards being part of education in any capacity as an exciting and rewarding experience. He enjoys being part of the governing body that makes decisions on policies that directly affect students.

“I’m an addict to education and farming and wrestling, and I can’t seem to get rid of any of them,” Skaar said, explaining why he decided to run for another term for the Albert Lea school board. He commended the school district for their ability to educate school board members on their responsibilities while in office.

When he ran for school board in 2016, Skaar said his goal was to facilitate handling issues in a fair and respectful manner. He plans to continue this if he is reelected.

“We are living in somewhat tumultuous times,” he said. He hopes he brings a respectful and equitable presence to the school board during his time there.

“I have no ax to grind, and I’m not here to promote some kind of an agenda,” he said. “I have tons of experience in the area of education, and I would like to think that I’m capable of making strong, rational decisions.”

He said he brings smooth sentiments to the school board, making him able to deescalate potential confrontations. He wants to model the type of behavior that is expected out of students.

Should he be elected onto the school board in November, Skaar said it will likely be his last term. He explained that right now he feels he is able to be an effective leader and is willing to continue serving, but he may feel differently in four years when he is 82.

“I’ve enjoyed being on the board these years and hope that I can maintain some degree of effectiveness for the next four years,” he said.

Skaar and his wife, Jean, have four adult children, Alexander, Nathaniel, Katherine and Rebecca.