School Board Candidate: Marguerite Laabs

Marguerite Laabs has four children in the school district. They vary from Kindergarten to eight-grade. “[I am running for the school board because] I have 13 more years with children in the district and I want to see that the district continues to improve Our children deserve the best education we can provide. I enjoy being involved in the community and feel this is a great way to do that.” Laabs felt that the board has had to make some difficult decisions in the past few years, including balancing the budget and dealing with declining enrollment. “We need to keep the budget balanced, and as enrollment changes we need to make changes, also.” If elected to the board, one goal Laabs would like to work toward is having the students achieve higher test scores. “I would like to see our test scores among the highest in the state.” Laabs was appointed to the school board after a member moved out of the district. Besides her two-year involvement with the school board, she is also very active in the Partners in Education (P.I.E.) organization at the elementary school. She is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and has been a member and officer of the Jaycee’s. She would describe a great board member as working for students. “[A successful board member would be] someone who makes decisions based on what is best for our students not for personal reasons.” Laabs currently owns and operates Images by Marguerite. Prior to opening her own studio she worked for a large photography business in St. Cloud. Laabs enjoys the small community that Kimball offers. “I like the smaller schools, it gives opportunities to all students to participate in activities like sports, FFA, band, choir and other groups. In larger schools you don’t see that.”