Two Richfield School Board Members Begin First Terms

Monday night. and are beginning their first terms, and returning member  enters his third.

The inaugural meeting of the new year is at 7 p.m. in the Richfield Public Schools District Office conference room, at .

, Etienne is looking forward.

“I am just so excited to get going,” Etienne told Richfield Patch. “I know that there is a lot of work to be done, tough decisions to be made, but I believe this district is headed in the right direction, and I want to help keep it going that direction and improving.”

. While this remains important, Etienne said part of each board member’s role is to “adopt” one school building as an area of focus.

“That will determine what I spend most of my time and energy on,” she said.

Ashmead, a former St. Paul high school principal, told Patch he was excited for the camaraderie.

“I’m looking forward to the involvement in districtwide functions,” he said. “This is a great excuse to be more involved with the schools. I truly believe kids are a great barometer in helping us understand what’s happening.”

Departing board members  and  said their goodbyes at the last regular meeting in 2011. Flood decided not to run again, while Toensing was defeated in November.

“Having served with Peter Toensing, I have a great deal of respect for the way he approached things,” Nollenberger said. “He [and Tom] will be missed.”