Edina Schools Board Unanimously Elects New Leadership Team
The Edina Public Schools Board of Education held its annual organizational meeting on January 8, unanimously electing a slate of officers for 2024. The board filled seven leadership positions without opposition, signaling smooth transition into the new year.
Erica Allenberg was elected Board Chair in the first of several unanimous votes. The board then elected Karen Gabler as Vice Chair, Dan Arum as Clerk, and Michael Birdman as Treasurer. Each position received a single nomination with no competing candidates, and all passed without dissent.
The board also filled three additional support positions: Jen Huey was elected Assistant Treasurer, while Elliot Mann and Cheryl Barry were elected to serve as Assistant Clerks. Like the primary officer positions, these nominations faced no opposition.
After completing the officer elections, the board approved its consent agenda—a routine collection of administrative items—without requesting any items be removed for separate discussion. This motion also passed unanimously.
The organizational meeting is a standard annual procedure in which school boards elect the officers who will lead their meetings and manage administrative duties throughout the calendar year. The lack of competing nominations and unanimous votes suggest the board entered 2024 with consensus on its leadership structure.
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Full analysis
Election of Board Chair
Dissent: None
Moved by Unknown [3:18] · Seconded by Unknown
Erica Allenberg was nominated for the position of Board Chair. No competing nominations were received. The nomination was closed and a vote was held.
Election of Vice Chair
Dissent: None
Moved by Unknown [4:04] · Seconded by Unknown
Karen Gabler was nominated for the position of Vice Chair. No competing nominations were received. The nomination was closed and a vote was held.
Election of Clerk
Dissent: None
Moved by Unknown [4:43] · Seconded by Unknown
Dan Arum was nominated for the position of Clerk. No competing nominations were received. The nomination was closed and a vote was held.
Election of Treasurer
Dissent: None
Moved by Unknown [5:25] · Seconded by Unknown
Michael Birdman was nominated for the position of Treasurer. No competing nominations were received. The nomination was closed and a vote was held.
Election of Assistant Treasurer and Assistant Clerks
Dissent: None
Moved by Unknown [6:06-6:16] · Seconded by Unknown
Three positions were filled: Jen Huey for Assistant Treasurer, and Elliot Mann and Cheryl Barry for Assistant Clerk positions. No competing nominations were received. All three candidates were elected unanimously.
Consent Agenda Approval
Dissent: None
Moved by Unknown [7:22] · Seconded by Unknown [7:26]
The board reviewed the consent agenda and no items were requested for removal. A motion to approve was made and seconded.
Source document
[1:41] it's Monday January 8th and this is our
[1:45] um first Monday technically second
[1:48] Monday of the month organizational
[1:49] meeting I'd like to
[1:51] welcome and Carl
[1:56] Barry I don't know what that
[1:58] means
[2:02] oh is that better sorry about that um so
[2:07] welcome to our new board members um Jen
[2:09] huy is absent this evening but we'll be
[2:11] at our next board meeting um tonight at
[2:15] our organizational meeting we vote for
[2:17] officers and um other um things that we
[2:20] have to do annually for the board um so
[2:22] we will start the meeting with um
[2:26] approving our agenda do I have a motion
[2:29] to approve tonight
[2:31] agenda so moved is there a second second
[2:36] all those in favor of approving
[2:37] tonight's agenda say I I anyone opposed
[2:41] the motion carries and the agenda is
[2:43] approved uh it looks like we need a
[2:45] battery for one of our
[2:48] phones do you want to
[2:51] trade
[2:53] thank thank
[2:58] you yeah thank
[3:05] you okay we'll now continue with the
[3:07] election of board officers nominations
[3:10] are now for the officer of board chair
[3:14] are there any nominations for the
[3:16] officer of board chair I'd like to
[3:18] nominate Erica allenberg as board chair
[3:21] Erica allenberg is nominated are there
[3:23] any other nominations for the officer of
[3:25] board
[3:26] chair are there any other nominations
[3:28] for the office of board chair
[3:31] chair are there any other nominations
[3:33] for the office of board
[3:35] chair if there are no other nominations
[3:37] for board chair the nominations for the
[3:39] office of board chair closed we will now
[3:41] vote for Erica allenberg in the office
[3:43] of board chair all those in favor say I
[3:47] I anyone opposed the motion carries and
[3:50] Erica allenburg is elected board chair
[3:52] we will continue with the election of
[3:54] other board officers nominations are now
[3:56] for the office of Vice chair is there a
[3:59] nomination for the office of Vice
[4:01] chair I'll nominate Karen gabler are
[4:05] there any other nominations for the
[4:07] office of Vice
[4:08] chair are there any other nominations
[4:11] for the office of Vice
[4:13] chair are there any other nominations
[4:15] for the office of Vice
[4:18] chair if there are no other nominations
[4:20] for vice chair the nominations for the
[4:22] office of Vice chair are closed we will
[4:24] now vote for Karen gabler in the office
[4:26] of Vice chair all those in favor say I I
[4:29] hi anyone opposed the motion carries and
[4:32] Karen gaer is elected vice chair we will
[4:35] now nominate and elect the office of
[4:38] clerk nominations are now open for the
[4:41] office of clerk I nominate Dan arum for
[4:44] clerk are there any other nominations
[4:46] for the office of
[4:48] clerk are there any other nominations
[4:50] for the office of
[4:52] clerk are there any other nominations
[4:54] for the office of
[4:56] clerk if there are no other nominations
[4:59] for clerk the nominations for the office
[5:01] of clerk are closed we will now vote for
[5:03] Dan arum in the office of clerk all
[5:06] those in favor say I I anyone opposed
[5:09] the motion carries and Dan arum is
[5:11] elected clerk we will continue with the
[5:14] election of other board officers
[5:16] nominations are now open for the office
[5:18] of
[5:23] treasur Michael Birman is nominated for
[5:26] the office of treasure are there any
[5:28] other nominations for the office of
[5:30] Treasurer are there any other
[5:32] nominations for the office of
[5:34] Treasurer are there any other
[5:35] nominations for the office of
[5:38] Treasurer if there are no other
[5:39] nominations for the office of Treasurer
[5:41] the nominations for the office of
[5:42] Treasurer are closed we will now vote
[5:45] for Michael Birdman in the office of
[5:46] Treasurer all those in favor say I I
[5:49] anyone opposed the motion carries and
[5:52] Michael Birdman is elected
[5:53] Treasurer we will continue with the
[5:55] election of other board officers these
[5:58] nominations are open for the offices of
[6:00] assistant treasur and two assistant
[6:03] clerks and I would like to nominate Jen
[6:06] huy for assistant
[6:08] treasur I'd like to nominate um Cheryl
[6:11] Barry for the role of assistant
[6:14] Clerk and I I'd also like to nominate
[6:16] Elliot man for assistant clerk so that
[6:19] would make Jen huy nominated for
[6:21] assistant treasure and Elliot man and
[6:23] Cheryl Barry nominated for assistant
[6:25] clerk are there any other nominations
[6:27] for the office office off of either
[6:30] assistant Treasurer or assistant
[6:32] clerk are there any other nominations
[6:35] for the offices of assistant Treasurer
[6:37] or assistant clerk are there any other
[6:40] nominations for the offices of assistant
[6:42] Treasurer or assistant clerk if there
[6:44] are no other nominations for the offices
[6:46] of assistant Treasurer or assistant
[6:48] clerk then the nominations of are closed
[6:51] all those in favor of electing Jen huie
[6:54] for assistant Treasurer and Elliot man
[6:56] and Cheryl Barry as assistant clerk say
[6:58] I hi
[6:59] anyone opposed the motion carries Jen Hy
[7:03] is elected assistant treasur and ellant
[7:04] man and Cheryl Barry are elected
[7:06] assistant clerks and that concludes our
[7:08] officer nominations for the
[7:10] 2024 20 or 2024 calendar year we're
[7:15] going to move on to our consent agenda
[7:18] are there any items anyone would like to
[7:19] remove from the consent agenda can I get
[7:22] a motion to approve the consent agenda
[7:25] so moved is there a
[7:26] second all those in favor of approving
[7:29] the consent consent agenda say I I
[7:31] anyone opposed the motion carries and
[7:34] the consent agenda is approved do we
[7:36] have any leadership or committee
[7:38] updates do we have any superintendent
[7:41] updates for this
[7:42] meeting outstanding then do I have a
[7:45] motion to
[7:46] adjourn so moved is there a second
[7:49] second all those in favor of adjourning
[7:51] our organizational meeting say
[7:53] I anyone opposed the motion carries oop
[7:57] that wasn't a motion okay
[7:59] yes we are adjourned thank you we'll see
[8:02] everyone at 5 good
[8:28] night
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