Grosam, Gruenhagen appointed to GFW Board

The GFW School Board held a special meeting on August 28 to interview six candidates for the two vacant Board positions. Prior to the meeting it was determined that candidate Dustin Berger, who has a Fairfax address, actually lived in the Gibbon precinct and thus could not run for the Fairfax position. That left George Grosam as the lone candidate. Mason Schmidt, Mark Turtle, Bernie Sauter and Kathi Gruenhagen were candidates for the Gibbon position.
Each candidates was asked the same six questions. Following the interviews Director Drew Schmidt moved to appoint Grosam to the Board. It took awhile for a second and then the motion failed 3-1 with Directors Ken Briese, Emilee Stehr and Dan Merkel voting against.
Superintendent Jeff Horton told the Board that it had selected a process for the appointment and had a qualified candidate, so the Board had a Statutory obligation to appoint a director.
Again a motion was made to appoint Grosam, this time passing 3-1 with Briese voting against.
Stehr made a motion to appoint Gruenhagen, seconded by Briese. Horton asked the Board to discuss the strengths and not rush to make a motion. Horton stated that he had some concerns from answers from Gruenhagen, when she stated she had not supported GFW in the past. He felt other candidates had shown their support for the school
Both Stehr and Briese stated why they made their decision. The vote was called and passed 3-1 with Schmidt being the lone vote against.
The new board members have a 30 day waiting period before they can fill the board positions. Thus they will serve on the Board for the two meetings in October. The November election will select the permanent directors with those individuals joining the Board for the November meeting.