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On Sunday, an Albert Lea School Board member posted to social media that the school board will be voting on approving the 2025-28 superintendent contract at the next school board meeting on Monday.

Like most government entities in Freeborn County, that agenda will not be ready until Friday. Which doesn’t give the public or the local newspaper much time to evaluate and ask questions.

If this vote is on the agenda, it is concerning that the school board is voting in October 2024 for a contract that does not expire until June 2025, and more importantly that there is an election in less than three weeks.

At the Aug. 19 Albert Lea school board meeting, the board voted 4-2 on an increase to superintendent Ron Wagner’s salary. Of the four members who voted for this raise, only two are guaranteed a position after the November election. One may be reelected and one is retiring. The board will look entirely different in January. This gives us pause to consider if the newly elected board will provide full support to this decision.

We’ve seen it happen on a local level, a state level and of course nationally. New members come in and have inherited people and policies that they don’t support. Why not leave this vote until after the new board assumes their seats in January? This would position the newly elected board to get behind the decision as a team.Furthermore, it would provide the board, the community and local journalists additional time to obtain all relevant data and performance metrics. Clearly the current board isn’t seeing eye to eye on some things and the community deserves to know exactly why. Is it only based on the fact that the 4-2 salary vote awarded a raise that was above average, when Albert Lea’s median income levels remain far below average, or is there something else?

Respectfully, we urge Chair Kim Nelson and the school board to delay this vote. A delay would allow opportunity for input from educators, parents and others who are deeply invested in the future of Albert Lea School District 241 and community.

Given the gravity of this decision and its far-reaching implications for our district, it is essential that we allow the new board to have ample time for thorough consideration and discussion.