Fargo Public Schools hires Director of Maintenance and Operations

Fargo Public Schools announces the hiring of a District administrative position.

Blake Mikesell has been named to the position of Director of Maintenance and Operations for Fargo Public Schools. Mikesell will assume this position on January 6, 2020. He will take over the position from Jim Frueh, current FPS Director of Maintenance and Operations, who is set to retire on February 7, 2020 after 13 years of service with the District.

Mikesell is an alumnus of the Iowa university system, with more than 23 years of experience in the fields of global facilities management, security, investigations, emergency planning, construction management, and loss prevention/asset recovery. For the past two years, Mr. Mikesell has served as the Facilities and Security Executive Officer for Central Bancshares of Muscatine, Iowa, where he managed facilities, new construction, renovations, capital projects, operational functions, security operations, and investigations for 14 bank locations. He began his professional career in the retail industry, as a regional investigator for Shopko Stores in Cedar Rapids, IA. From 2003 to 2013, Mikesell served as a Chief Investigator for the State Public Defender Office in Cedar Rapids, as well as an adjunct Criminal Justice instructor for Kaplan University/Mount Mercy University for ten years.  In 2013, he became the Director of Public Safety for Mount Mercy University. From 2015 to 2017, he held the position of Director of Facilities with CRST International, a private transportation company with a fleet of more than 4,500 vehicles, where he managed and directed 26 various facilities, including corporate buildings, shops, hotels, and distribution centers located throughout the United States.  

Mikesell is an Iowa native and has a daughter who recently started college.  He holds an Associates of Arts degree in Law Enforcement from Kirkwood Community College (Cedar Rapids, IA), a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Mount Mercy University (Cedar Rapids, IA), and a Masters degree in Criminal Justice Policy and Administration from Saint Ambrose University (Davenport, IA).