Before Superintendent Rick Sansted could move forward with administrative reports at the Alexandria School Board meeting Monday night, board member Angie Krebs reminded him of a previous agenda item he breezed past.

“I thought you might skip that,” Bob Cunniff said.

“I want to, Bob,” Sansted replied.

School board member Bob Cunniff submitted a letter of resignation, which will be effective March 31. He’s stepping down from his role after four years of service, as he started Jan. 1, 2017.

Cunniff and his wife both recently retired from teaching in Alexandria and made the decision to move south of the Twin Cities to New Prague, Minn., to live closer to their children and grandchildren.

“I really like my doctor. I really like my dentist here. I really like my barber… and I like my mechanic in town,” Cunniff said. “I love being on the school board, but there’s something else I love a little bit more.”

The vacancy had to be announced so a current school board member could fulfill Cunniff’s clerk duties until a new member is elected. The school board unanimously agreed to the suggestion of board member Dean Anderson stepping into the clerk role temporarily.

A special board meeting has been scheduled for April 14 to start the process of setting a special election sometime this year. Whoever wins the special election will serve the remainder of Cunniff’s term, which will expire January 2023.

“Just know that you have impacted (this community) probably beyond what you could fathom,” Sansted said.

Other items

• Eight high school students, along with head coach Jennifer Mounsdon, shared about the Robotics FIRST program. FIRST Robotics is an international program focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Although the team’s typical competition schedule was upended this year, they plan to participate in an off-season competition, the Northern Minnesota Robotics Conference, April 17.

• For the fifth consecutive year, the Alexandria Area High School one act play cast and crew earned the state’s top award for the show “Machinal”. This was also the group’s seventh consecutive advancement to the Minnesota State High School League one act play festival.