School District 192 Board of Education filing opens July 31

Talk about it

Farmington residents who would like to have a say on education issues might want to start getting their campaign slogans ready.

The filing period for this fall’s school board election will begin July 31 and run through Aug. 13.

There will be three positions up for election this year. Board member Tim Burke has already said he does not plan to run for another term. The positions held by Julie McKnight and Julie Singewald will also be on the ballot.

Farmington residents John Guist and Jake Cordes have already announced plans to run for a seat on the board.

Burke expressed some disappointment there was no discussion of holding a primary election. State law allows local governments to hold a primary if there are more than twice as many candidates as positions available, but to do that the district would have had to hold an earlier filing period. The district has held a primary in the past, but chose at its last election to do away with the early election.

“I would hope that in the future we would have information early enough to provide for a primary,” Burke said.

Residents interested in running for a school board position must be at least 21 years old, an eligible voter and a resident of the district for at least 30 days prior to the election. Candidates must file an affidavit of candidacy at the district office.

Lunch prices will rise this year

It will cost a little bit more for students to eat a hot school lunch next year.

The Farmington School Board voted Monday to increase lunch prices by 10 cents at all levels. Starting in the fall, a lunch ticket will cost $2.25 for elementary school students, $2.40 for middle school students, $2.45 for high school students and $3.25 for adults.

Finance director Carl Colmark said the price hike is the result of formulas from the United States Department of Agriculture.

“We really don’t have the latitude to do anything differently,” Colmark told board members Monday.

Colmark said lunch prices at Farmington schools are “fairly competitive” compared to Lakeville and the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District.

The Rosemount district increased its lunch prices earlier this year to $2.20 for elementary lunches, $2.35 for high school and $3.40 for adults. There was no change for middle school students. District 196 finance director Jeff Solomon cited the same federal regulations as the cause of the increase.

Colmark said it is hard to make a direct comparison of different districts’ lunch prices because of varying levels of demand for free or reduced-price lunches.

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