Three of 7 candidates for the Edina School Board fielded questions from almost 60 attendees at a forum held by Senate District 49 Republicans. In a session that lasted over an hour, Sarah Patzloff, Lou Nanne Jr, and Linda Friede (pictured from left to right below) addressed virtually every question submitted by the audience.

CLICK on the picture to view a video recording of the forum.

Unfortunately, three of the candidates (Julie Greene, Janie Shaw, and Leny Wallen-Friedman) declined to participate “in political party sponsored events.” The seventh candidate, Garrett Knudsen, had accepted but could not participate due to a last-minute work emergency.

The forum was open to the public. The president of the Edina teachers’ union and members of Edina Indivisible were in attendance. The audience and the participants agreed that the forum had been conducted fairly and impartially.

Notable, several attendees expressed their surprise that their submitted questions actually got asked. This forum proved to be a credible complement to other local “meet-the-candidates” opportunities and will be continued in future election cycles

Six of the seven Edina school board candidates answered questions at the Edina League of Women Voters forum on Thursday, September 12. Sarah Patzloff, Linda Friede, Lou Nanne Jr,. Leny Wallen-Friedman, Julie Greene and Janie ShawI highlighted some of their differences in answering questions screened by the LWV. Garrett Knudsen was unable to attend the forum.

The full video recording of the forum may be found at this link. 

Sarah Patzloff described her focus on academic excellence and data-driven decision-making that puts kids first. She stressed the need to put resources in the right places.

Linda Friede felt that the school board should promote student academic growth.

Lou Nanne also wants to promote student excellence, urging the creation of multiple paths for students to learn. He recognized the Edina has wonderful teachers, but it needs to develop the best curriculum.

Leny Wallen-Friedman wants to complete work on the strategic plan. He feels that the board should decide on its role and better follow guidelines. He also argued that the MCA test scores were not a sufficient indicator of educational excellence.

August 13 was  the last date for candidates to announce/file for School Board elections in our four SD49 Communities.

Here are the Edina School Board candidate names and websites (if known;  note that links are not clickable). We expect to have additional website / contact details and also recommendations in the weeks ahead.

Edina (3 will be elected)

Linda Friede      Friede4EdinaSchools.com
Julie Greene      www.greeneforedina.com
Garrett Knudsen
Lou Nanne
Sarah Patzloff
Janie Shaw      janieshawforedina.com
Leny K. Wallen-Friedman