Election 2020: Sartell-St. Stephen School Board

SARTELL -- There are four candidates running for three open seats on the Sartell-St. Stephen School Board.

Patricia Meling, Matthew Moehrle, Taryn Gentile and the incumbent Jason Nies are on the ballot this year.

Matthew Moehrle

Moehrle and his wife have two kids in the district. He's been a stay-at-home dad for the last three years, but works part-time as a trial attorney. Moehrle says he wanted to find other ways to give back to the community and felt this position was a good fit.

Communication and transparency is very important to me. I know how to communicate well with members of the public or with authority figures and I'm use to working in a team environment.

He says if elected he doesn't have any specific goals he is hoping to achieve but rather continuing to strive to keep Sartell the strong school district it is.

Patricia Meling

Meling and her family moved to Sartell roughly four years ago because of the school district. She describes herself as a busy mom having five kids between the ages of 2 to 12-years-old. She's been very active within the school district and serves as a board member of the Sartell Moms Club. Meling says if elected she can bring a unique perspective to the board as someone who has a student in almost every school building.

Since I have kids in each building, I get different perspectives and experiences. I think that will help with decisions as I love hearing other people's points of view.

With her husband in the military Meling says she would also like to see increase support for military families.

Jason Nies

Nies is the lone incumbent in this race and is looking to be elected to his third term on the school board. He says he's been proud of the work the board has accomplished over the years with a new high school and passing of an operating levy. Nies says there are going to be some tough decisions to make in the next 10 years and feels his experience will be helpful.

We do need to look at the Riverview Intermediate School as it's now our oldest building. We're going to have to make some decisions three, five or ten years down the road to do something to that building or look at a new building.

Nies says they know residents come to Sartell for the school district and they need to continue to strive to provide the quality of education families expect.

Taryn Gentile

Gentile has lived in Sartell for 12 years and works for US Bank in private wealth management. She has two kids in the district and previously ran for school board back in 2018. She says she supports an equity audit and views it as a valuable learning tool for the community.

Equality means everyone has the same opportunity, equity is we are putting everyone on equal footing. I think it's really important in the Sartell district we make sure we are taking a look at equity, listening to students and staff who are saying we have some problems and addressing those problems.

Gentile is also a licensed attorney which she feels in addition to her financial background, is another valuable trait she can bring to the table if elected to the school board.

Member on the Sartell-St. Stephen school board are elected to a 4-year term. Election day is Tuesday, November 3rd.