Tanner Kent
MANKATO — During Monday’s Mankato Area School Board meeting, chairperson Ann Hendricks stood up to thank Dan Kapsner for his 14 years of service.
Originally seated in July of 1992, Kapsner “retired” in 2003. But he came out of retirement on two separate occasions to fill seats that opened mid-term.
“I’ve had the opportunity to say goodbye to Dan a couple times,” Hendricks joked before adding, “Dan always stepped up to the plate for us. Anytime we needed him, he was there.”
But now, as newly elected board members Sara Hansen and Tom Rekstein await their oaths in January, it seems Kapsner and fellow board member Katie Klanderud are retiring for good.
Maybe.
At least for now.
“If push came to shove, I’d do it again,” Kapsner said. “I’ve really enjoyed working on the board.”
Klanderud, who is finishing a four-year term, also said she wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a return sometime down the road. But with two young children and a new position with the Minnesota School Board Association, it may be a while.
“The decision not to run in the last election was a difficult one,” Klanderud said. “We had a lot of late-night conversations about it.”
Without Kapsner and Klanderud, the board loses almost two decades’ worth of service.
During those time periods, the Mankato Area School District grew to include Dakota Meadows and an expanded facility in Eagle Lake. They were also on the board that called for the long-term facility study which outlined the need for a new elementary school.
“Both Katie and Dan have been absolute role models,” Supt. Ed Waltman said. “They are good listeners. They do their homework. And they haven’t been afraid to make difficult decisions. It’s been my pleasure to work with them.”
Klanderud said she may be most proud of the district’s recent implication of full-day kindergarten.
She said all board members did a lot of research and gathered a lot of feedback about the program. But as a mother of two young students herself, Klanderud said she didn’t hesitate to go straight to the source — her then-kindergarten-aged daughter: “Well mom, it’d sure be nice to get something done.”
Kapsner said the biggest changes in the district since he began some 14 years ago have been the sharp rise in school diversity and the new challenges of the No Child Left Behind act.
Kapsner was also one of the few school board members in the nation to serve under co-superintendents — an experiment the district tried in the 1990s to increase administrative visibility.
“We’ve had an excellent working board,” Kapsner said. “We didn’t always agree, but we always did what was right for the students in our district.”
