GIBBON — The Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop (GFW) School Board rescheduled interviewing appointed board members and selecting two board members to Aug. 28 Monday.

The school board will then select two interim board members to serve for the rest of the calendar year.

School board appointment candidates are Kathi Gruenhagen, Bernie Sauter, Mason Schmidt and Mark Turtle of Gibbon and Dustin Berger and George Grosam of Fairfax. Schmidt and Berger were not able to attend the Aug. 21 board meeting. The other appointment candidates said they wanted to postpone the interviews to the Monday, Aug. 28 board meeting that begins at 6 p.m. in the Gibbon elementary early childhood room.

The two open school board seats were created last month when board members Amy Acree and Jason Haas resigned due to concerns, complaints and allegations that staff and community members are afraid to board members due to fear of retaliation and due to pressure by some board members to remove a board member.

GFW School Board Chairman Dan Merkel responded to the resignations in a July 28 email to The Journal that read: “Board members are elected by GFW voters. They cannot be removed on demand from other board members. I have been informed by the school district’s legal counsel that the standard for board member removal is established by state law and the Minnesota Constitution. It requires a showing of malfeasance (wrongdoing) or non-feasance (failure to perform an act required by law), relating to something of a substantial nature directly affecting the rights and interests of the public.

“It is not true that I did nothing to address the concerns of board members who resigned. It is clear to me they wanted a board member removed from the board. I suggested training and guidance,” wrote Merkel. “Unfortunately, they rejected that suggestion and resigned. I wish they would have made a different decision.”

The board unanimously approved:

• A resolution to elect Gibbon and Fairfax board members to fill board member terms expiring Dec. 31, 2026 in a Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2023 special election was unanimously approved.

School board November election candidates from Gibbon are Gruenhagen, Sauter, Casey Prochniak and Mark Turtle. Fairfax November election candidates are Berger and Grosam.

• Donations to T-Bird Community Arts include $130 from Gwen Ruff, Dave Munsell $25, Janet Hagen $12, $10 each form Charlotte Daniels, Laura Dittrich and Kellie Sloot and $5 from Julie Schmidt and Tina Castillo.

• Superintendent Dr. Jeff Horton asked for a moment of silence in honor of former school chairman Mike Kuehn who recently died.

“He was a man of few words. He never complained. I think he had a huge heart,” Horton said.