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Josh Belanger
Josh Belanger will take over for current I.S.D. 166 principal Megan Myers on July 1, while Myers leaves to take the superintendent job in Parker Prairie, Minnesota, in July 2023. The school board announced his hire at the board’s March 16 meeting.
Myers announced she was leaving in January to give the school board plenty of time to find her replacement.
According to his LinkedIn page, Belanger has been the assistant principal at Coon Rapids High School since August 2022. Before that, he was a Special Education teacher for one year and three months and spent ten years as a learning specialist in the junior high at Benilde-St. Margaret’s School. Before that, he worked for five years and eleven months at Anoka High school as a Special Education teacher and taught Language Arts.
Josh earned his Bachelor of Education, Special Education, and a teaching degree from Winona State University in 2005. He received a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration in 2009 from Concordia University-St. Paul. In 2013 Josh obtained an Educational Certificate, Multicultural Education from the University of Saint Thomas. In March 2022, he completed a two-year program for an Education Specialist, Educational Leadership and Administration, General degree.
With housing at a critical shortage in the county, the school board is again looking at selling a sizeable junk of school property for affordable housing. The land was sold to Anna Hamilton for a brief moment in time. However, Hamilton returned the property when she realized how expensive it would be to build affordable housing on the land.
Fast forward, and the school board is again weighing its options on selling 27 acres of school property, only this time to the Cook County Housing and Redevelopment Authority. When seeking comments from the public, the school board has found that more people than not are in favor of making the sale.
Superintendent Chris Lindholm and H.R.A. Director Jason Hale have been meeting to form a draft agreement that will be brought to a future school board meeting for discussion. Depending upon the board, the deal could be formalized or dropped in April.
New weight room equipment needed
School board members listened as Mike Theismann presented a proposal to raise funds to purchase weight and strength conditioning equipment for the school district.
The school needs about $16,000 to purchase barbells, bumper plates, resistance bands, power racks, etc. Funds would come from donations by local businesses, individuals, and families.
Theismann is a physical education teacher, junior high basketball coach, and assistant football coach. Currently, some athletes are using the weight room at the YMCA. However, Theismann said if the school had its own equipment, it could be used for physical education classes and by athletes in the summer.
The school board gave Theismann its blessing to begin efforts to raise funds to upgrade the school’s conditioning facilities.
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