Superintendent Mary Kreger reported Feb. 12 that negotiating teams for District 196 and Dakota County United Educators (DCUE) reached a tentative agreement on a new, two-year contract for 2023-2025.

The District 196 School Board on Jan. 8 approved a resolution to accept the resignation of Board Director Bianca Virnig and declare a board vacancy, and a separate action to approve the process the board will use to fill the vacancy. Virnig won a special election Dec. 5 to fill the open seat in House District 52B. She will resign from the School Board Jan. 11.

Voters in Independent School District 196 elected incumbents Jackie Magnuson, Cory Johnson and Sachin Isaacs, and candidate Anna Williams to fill four open seats in the Nov. 7 School Board election. 

District 196 is accepting applications from families interested in having their students attend a magnet school in the 2024-25 school year. The deadlines to submit applications are Jan. 5 for the five elementary magnet schools, Dec. 15 for Valley Middle School of STEM and Dec. 22 for the School of Environmental Studies optional high school for juniors and seniors.

For the fifth year in a row, Independent School District 196 is included on Forbes’ annual list of Best-in-State Employers. 

Twelve residents of Independent School District 196 filed candidacy for the School Board during the two-week filing period that ended Aug. 15 and will vie for four open seats in the Nov. 7, 2023 School Board election.