Kostiuk, Wagner and Wenberg to take three open seats
In a near photo-finish race for the final of three seats on the International Falls school board, incumbents Willi Kostiuk and Darrell Wagner will return to the board, with newcomer Dena Budde Wenberg joining them.
A mere 41 votes separated Wagner and candidates Gordy Dault and Robin Baumchen. Kostiuk received the most votes with more than 27 percent of the votes. No other candidate received more than 20 percent.
“I can’t believe how close this race was,” Wenberg said.
Wenberg said her priorities rest with decreasing class sizes and increasing standardized testing scores to make adequate yearly progress in the high school.
“There are too many kids in the classroom,” she said. “As a concerned parent, my main concern is getting smaller class sizes and getting grades up.”
Kostiuk said this has been a long, hard campaign but it will make him a better school board member.
He said he went door-to-door to draw support and looks forward to hitting the ground running in his second term in office. He has been serving on the board for two years.
“It’s been a learning experience to say the least,” he said. “(It gives me) four more years to work on things I want.”
His concerns also include increasing standardized test scores to help the high school achieve AYP, as well as maintaining successes achieved in the elementary school through the Response to Intervention program. Falls Elementary achieved AYP last year after failing to meet goals the previous year.
Kostiuk is also concerned with rerouting traffic away from the Eleventh Street entrance to West End Elementary and providing a safer alternative.
Dault had been serving in a temporary role as school board member following the death of previous board chair Roger Jerome this summer. Baumchen had also previously served on the Falls School Board.
