K-M School Board agenda: Proposed resolution to remove board member

The Kasson-Mantorville School Board is expected to call a vote on a proposed resolution to remove a school board member during its Monday, Feb. 10 meeting, according to the agenda released Thursday morning.

"The agenda provided by the School Board Chair includes a Resolution proposing Amy Olson's removal from the school board," Superintendent Ted Ihns wrote in an email. 

The agenda item states: "Resolution Proposing the Removal of a School Board Member pursuant to Minn. Stat. §123B.09 Subd. 9"

On Oct. 16, an investigation began into Olson. 

“On October 16, 2024, the school district retained Red Cedar Consulting, L.LC to investigate the allegations against Amy Olson,” the investigator wrote. 

The investigation began the same day Olson originally resigned ahead of a Oct. 21 meeting, in which the board was expected to have a closed meeting to discuss allegations against her. 

“I would definitely like to speak to those in a closed session as I can assure you, much of what I am being accused of is inaccurate,” Olson wrote in an email to then School Board Chair Kent  Harfmann. “I look forward to the closed session discussion.”

She was then elected in November, to a four-year term. 

During the Jan. 6 meeting, the school board had a closed session meeting “for preliminary consideration of allegations or charges against an individual subject to its authority.” 

The  meeting came less than four hours after Ihns sent an email to the school board saying he was quitting, after being hired on a 7-0 vote in July, according to an email obtained by the DCI. 

Within an hour of Ihn’s email, Olson asked if her resignation would be enough to get him to stay. 

“I can't help but to feel a sense of personal responsibility in the decision and I wonder if you might reconsider your departure if I were to step down from my role on the school board,” Olson wrote in an email obtained by the DCI through a standard public data request. 

This story is developing and will be updated as more details become available.