Three Blooming Prairie School Board seats filled Tuesday

By LAURA BERNDTNews Editor
In January, the Blooming Prairie School Board will welcome one new board member. Two members of the Blooming Prairie School Board were also re-elected on Tuesday.
Three candidates, Jennifer Thurnau, Jonathan Sunde and Steve Ille filed for the three open Blooming Prairie School Board seats. Thurnau and Sunde currently serve on the board. Kathi Peterson, current board member, chose not to run for another term.
“Kathi has been a great board member,” said Blooming Prairie Superintendent Barry Olson. “She is very positive about education and we'll miss her. She was a very good school board member.”
Olson is also looking forward to working with the returning board members and the newest board member. “I have worked with two of them. The new board member will have lot to learn, but it should be an easy transition,” Olson said. “We’re always looking forward to trying to make our district better.”
According to unofficial results from the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, 194 voters cast their ballots on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Thurnau received 55 votes (28 percent), Ille had 58 votes (30 percent) and Sunde brought in 60 votes (31 percent). Twenty-one residents (11 percent) also cast votes for write-in candidates.
The current board will continue operations through the end of the year, and Ille will begin serving his term at the first school board meeting of 2016.
Read more in the upcoming edition of The Steele County Times.