(Fargo, ND) -- The Fargo Public School Board President has reached out to WDAY Radio on a statement involving a possible recall for her seat.
The statement in full can be read below:
“North Dakota Century Code provides a process for our citizenry to be involved in determining electoralrepresentation. First elected in 2014 and reelected in 2018, I am humbled the voters have entrusted me to serve our community on the Fargo Board of Education.
In making decisions as to how the District would operate during Covid-19, I felt it was imperative to rely on the recommendations of experts in medicine and the study of disease—city, county, state and national health, public education, and government agencies and officials—in order to help fulfill my commitment to provide a healthy learning and working environment for the District’s students and staff. Some disagreement regarding how to optimally operate a school system during a global pandemic is expected. I have listened and taken into consideration the perspectives and concerns of community members, and along with the guidance of the District’s partnering public health agencies, I am confident in the decisions I made, as part of the Board’s majority, to approve the District’s 2019-20 Smart Restart Plan.
The support of the community has been crucial to get us to where we are today. At the May 11 Board meeting, two motions were passed related to Covid-19 that begin to lift mask restrictions. First, Board members approved that beginning May 12th, 2021 masks will not be required on elementary playgrounds or during outside activities at the middle or high school level. Second, the Board approved suspending the FPS Smart Restart Plan for the 2020-21 school year effective June 7th, 2021.
As one of the city’s largest employers, and one of the state’s largest school districts, it is imperative for the Board to work diligently to ensure the safest working environment for our staff and learning environment for our students. I will continue to work with the Fargo Board of Education to strive to realize its mission to educate and empower all students to succeed.”
This comes on the heels of parents reaching out to WDAY Radio calling for Rebecca Knutson to be removed from her post for how she handled the COVID-19 pandemic, including masking policy in Fargo Schools. The group needed 9500 signatures on a petition to recall Knutson. It is not clear how close they are to that number at this time.