Two GFW School Board members resign amidst allegations of misconduct

By Denise Bonsack, Publisher

Last week we learned that two members of the GFW School Board resigned suddenly in the middle of their current term. 

Jason Haas, who represented the Gibbon area of the district, has been a board member since May of 2017, while Amy Acree, who represented the Fairfax area of the district, was just elected to the board this past November.

According to copies of the letters of resignation, both parties cite ‘alleged misconduct’ by a board member and indicate that those allegations were not properly addressed by the current Board Chair. 

Haas’ letter speaks of alleged comments of a sexual nature made by a board member in the presence of staff and community members and alleged harassment by two board members to a member of the staff, but also indicates that protocol was not followed by the board leadership to address those allegations.

Acree’s letter states that she and Haas made several attempts to resolve the issues, but those attempts were met with ‘opposition and aggression by the board chair and clerk’.

“The allegations of misconduct that were communicated to us from community members and staff rose to the level of potential litigation that could threaten the timeline of school building project, incur possible substantial costs to the district and taxpayers and affect the opportunities of current and future GFW students,” the letter said.

“The proper procedure to address these issues would have been for the board chair, with support from the superintendent, to contact our legal council for advice and direction on the issue,” the letter continues. “This request was submitted repeatedly to the chair who continues to refuse to follow procedure. Out of concern, I contacted our legal advisor with the Minnesota School Board Association, and he could not stress enough that going to our attorneys was extremely important and the correct action. I again relayed that information to our Chair, to no avail. When I tried to express my concern to the Clerk about the new school project being delayed and the consequences of that, the response was with laughter and the words “oh well”. Inaction of the board puts individual board members at risk.”

Finally, the letter ends with, “In my opinion, the current board is clearly incapable of working together or being trusted with the important job of governing in the best interest of the GFW school district and should be replaced. Therefore, I am submitting my resignation effective 7/12/2023. I appreciate the opportunity I’ve had to serve and wish the best for the future of GFW.”

The remaining members of the GFW School Board officer team, Chair Dan Merkel, Vice Chair Drew Schmidt, and Clerk Emilee Stehr were all contacted via their GFW Schools email addresses and given the opportunity to comment on the ongoing situation. They were also asked if they felt this situation would impact the new building project. No responses have been received as of the date of this edition of the Standard-Gazette & Messenger.

The remaining board members met on Monday, July 24 to conduct their regular business and determine the next steps to take to fill the vacated board seats. See next week’s edition for the complete story on that meeting.