Bev’s Record and Qualifications

Bev has spent more than 25 years working to make the community and Stillwater Area Public Schools the best they can be.

The School Board

Bev joined the District 834 School Board in November 2020. She served as Board Chair in 2021, overseeing a tumultuous year in which two board members resigned and some board meetings were marked by audience outbursts over mask wearing during the pandemic. By the end of the year, decorum had returned to the board room, and Bev had achieved one of her personal goals as board chair: reducing board meetings from the 4-5 hours of the previous board to an average of two hours.

She helped to oversee a successful 2021 referendum to encourage residents to support two local levies. One was a renewal of an existing levy to help pay for operating costs of the district, and the second was a new levy to help pay the technology costs of the district. Despite an organized Vote No campaign, the two questions passed with comfortable margins, the first time in the history of the district that two questions had passed at once.

Bev participated in an effort in the spring of 2022 to hire a permanent superintendent for the district. Benefiting from a strong candidate pool, the board was able to hire Albert Lea superintendent Dr. Michael Funk, the 2022 Minnesota Superintendent of the Year.

She supported board actions to:

  • expand Brookview Elementary as a stop-gap measure to deal with explosive growth in the south part of the district and implement long-delayed boundary changes to mitigate overcrowding in elementary schools in that area.

  • begin remodeling on the section of the Oak Park building that houses students in the Transitions program, to provide 18-21-year-old students with disabilities with appropriate opportunities to learn skills that will help them be successful in life after school.

  • transition to a new bus company for the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. The new company has already pledged to cover all pre-pandemic routes, which would be a significant improvement over the service provided by the previous bus company.

  • expand funding for professional development for teachers, including the hiring of instructional coaches in each of the buildings.

She currently serves as treasurer of the School Board.

She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts (AMSD).

The Partnership Plan

The Partnership Plan is the nonprofit educational fund for Stillwater Area Public Schools. For more than 30 years, it has raised funds to provide the educational extras that are beyond the reach for the District to provide.

  • Bev was the Executive Director of The Partnership Plan for five years. During that time, she helped to raise more than $1 million for educational enrichment programs and activities. She also spearheaded large-scale arts and technology projects, including an initiative to send all 4th graders to Orchestra Hall each year, just before they decide whether to take up an instrument in 5th grade.

  • She served on the Board of Directors of The Partnership Plan for six years.

  • Bev helped to create Da Vinci Fest and spent more than 10 years building it into an annual Art, Science and Technology Fair for students, as well as a community educational event focused on art, science and innovation.

  • She began the fundraising gala for The Partnership Plan and built it over 10 years. It was originally called Jeans & Jewels, morphing later into The Partnership Party. It was the largest annual fundraising event for The Partnership Plan, funding a specific large-scale educational project in Stillwater Area Public Schools each year.

Volunteer work

  • Bev served on the Board of Directors of StoryArk, a local nonprofit that provides opportunities for local youth to collaborate and tell their stories through film, podcasts, and the written word.

  • In 2007, Bev was co-chair of a successful Vote Yes campaign to renew the local operating levy for Stillwater Area Public Schools. She also worked on the communications committee of the successful levy renewal effort prior to that. And she served as an advisor to several levy renewal efforts subsequent to 2007.

  • In 2003, Bev served on the District’s Facilities, Land Use and Attendance Boundary Task Force (FLAT), which evaluated the District’s facilities, analyzed demographic trends, and made recommendations for the future.

  • Bev did a variety of volunteer activities in Marine Elementary School when her sons attended there, including working with another mom to start the school’s first large fall fundraiser, and an after-school project to re-start the school newspaper.

career and education

Bev graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in journalism. She was a writer and editor for newspapers and magazines in Iowa and Minnesota. She has also been a freelance writer for Twin Cities magazines.