St. Cloud School Board Looks to Fill Open Seat Left by Harner

ST. CLOUD - The St. Cloud area school board is starting the process of filling an empty seat left by Cindy Harner.

Harner was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of 4th degree DWI and 3rd Degree Test Refusal.

Harner sent her resignation letter to Whipple and members of the school board last week, saying she didn’t want to be a distraction on the board with important decisions coming soon.

“The district has much work to do in the coming months. I would like the community to focus on the great things that ISD742 is accomplishing, and not let me personal situation become more of a distraction,” Harner said in the letter.

There will be an open application process for the open seat. The district hopes to have the applications online by Tuesday. The deadline to apply will be 4:00 p.m. on June 8th. After an open selection and interview process, the board will vote to fill the position on June 25th.

School board chair Dennis Whipple added during the meeting that the board plans to honor Harner with a plaque for her previous work and dedication to the district.

"It's been a really great opportunity to serve with her and I think it's a great loss to us that she is no longer on our board, she did a lot for the district and we're really thankful."