Katie Olson (Waubun-Ogema-White Earth Schools school board, At-large, Minnesota, candidate 2024)

Katie Olson

Do you have a photo that could go here? Click here to submit it for this profile!

---

Nonpartisan

Candidate, Waubun-Ogema-White Earth Schools school board, At-large

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Personal

Birthplace

Detroit Lakes, Minn.

Religion

Congregational

Profession

Social worker

Submit contact information

Send Ballotpedia contact information for this person

Katie Olson ran for election to the Waubun-Ogema-White Earth Schools school board, At-large in Minnesota. She was on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.^[source]

Olson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Katie Olson provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 9, 2024:

• Birth date: April 12, 1980
• Birth place: Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
• High school: Waubun High School
• Gender: Female
• Religion: Congregational
• Profession: Social Worker
• Incumbent officeholder: No
• Campaign endorsements

Elections

General election

General election for Waubun-Ogema-White Earth Schools school board, At-large (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Waubun-Ogema-White Earth Schools school board, At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Allan Haugo (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Nicholas Lerud (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Katie Olson (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Mina M. Spalla (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Amber Stech (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	John J. Zima (Nonpartisan)

---

	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Endorsements

To view Olson's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Olson in this election.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Katie Olson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Olson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am Katie Olson and I am a candidate for District #435 School Board! I have been a lifelong resident of the area, raised near Ogema. My husband Clint and I are both graduates of Waubun High School and have been married for nearly 23 years. We have 3 children: Leah who is a sophomore at the University of MN Morris, Chris a Junior at Waubun High School and John is a 3rd grader at Ogema Elementary. We live East of Waubun and split our time between the kids’ activities, our business and enjoying time together as a family.

I believe my life and employment experiences would make me a excellent candidate. I have been employed by the tribe for 26 years. The first 17 of those years I provided licensed childcare for many local families, and most recently as an adoption social worker. My life has revolved around working with our local kids and families! My husband and I also operate our own business, so I am no stranger to budgets, organization and leadership. I previously was involved with the PTSO, and currently am on the Dollars for Scholars Board and am also a member of our local VFW auxiliary.

As a social worker and parent to a child who is learning with Dyslexia I am also in the trenches of IEP’s, tutoring and navigating special education. At the end of the day my focus has always been on our kids, and how to lead them to be successful young people.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Quality Teacher support and retention- How can we better support our staff as well as hire quality teaching staff to better serve our children. Teaching has a high rate of burn out- how can we curb that?
• Special education- Our district has more and more kids qualifying for IEP's and special education services. How are we meeting that need in terms of staff as well as space?
• Training- From janitors to kitchen staff to teachers- What trainings are we providing to them? Our district has a high rate of poverty, foster care etc. Are all staff trained in working with kids who exist in constant trauma?

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Safe Schools Act - I care deeply about addressing bullying in school and making sure that all students feel safe and accepted

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my parents. They have taught me to be strong in my beliefs and to always be open and accepting of those who may be different from myself.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, integrity and knowing how to be neutral and fair. As any school employee or board member I think it is very important to not focus on only your own self interests but to look at the school and students as a whole.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I have been employed by the tribe for 26 years. The first 17 of those years I provided licensed childcare for many local families, and most recently as an adoption social worker. My life has revolved around working with our local kids and families! My husband and I also operate our own business, so I am no stranger to budgets, organization and leadership. I previously was involved with the PTSO, and currently am on the Dollars for Scholars Board and am also a member of our local VFW auxiliary.
As a social worker and parent to a child who is learning with Dyslexia I am also in the trenches of IEP’s, tutoring and navigating special education. At the end of the day my focus has always been on our kids, and how to lead them to be successful young people.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

School board members focus is on school budgets, being accountable for educational standards, hiring and evaluating the superintendent and setting policies within the school.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Littleton Colorado school shooting in April 1999. I had just turned 19 years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first "real" job was as a child care provider. I worked in that capacity from 1998 until 2015. During that time I ran the tribes child care center in White Earth.

What is your favorite book? Why?

I am a book lover and I don't think I could narrow it down to a single favorite! As a young person I read and reread the Little House series. As an adult I have enjoyed the author Maeve Binchy and also the Outlander series.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

School board members focus is on school budgets, being accountable for educational standards, hiring and evaluating the superintendent and setting policies within the school.

Who are your constituents?

Voters within school district 435

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

A good teacher is the combination of many qualities. They get to know and connect with their students and make learning engaging, interesting and fun. They are good communicators.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

I'd like to see our school offer more electives, some that may transfer into other employment opportunities. Example: students interested in the area of medical may be able to work towards getting their CNA

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

As a parent of 2 students I don't have the knowledge of what our current budget looks like. I would like to look into how the school looks for grant funding.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

As a child I only had to worry about tornado and fire drills- not active shooter drills. As a parent I am entrusting my child's safety and life to the school staff every day they attend. I think that it is a balance of supporting kids in crisis while also being able to provide a safe place to learn for the other students.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

Our state is suffering a shortage of mental health practitioners. We already collaborate with more than 1 agency to provide mental health services and CTSS services to children. Ideally I think our school would have a crisis provider on site daily to provide services to any child or staff who needs it.

What existing district policies would you like to change, or what new policies would you like to implement?

I'd like to be able to meet with all board members as a whole and see data on what has been successful and what hasn't before making any judgements on policy.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

School Board Integrity Project

Describe your ideal learning environment for students.

Ideally our students would have a safe classroom free from distractions being led by high quality teachers. Due to staff shortages and increasing negative behaviors of students this seems to be a hard goal to meet.

How do you feel like your school district handled the coronavirus pandemic? What, if anything, would you do differently in the future?

I thought that our school handled it as well as they possibly could. They worked closely with local tribal and state health agencies and met frequently to address any changes. Chrome books etc were distributed quickly. Some things such as internet access were addressed as quickly as possible given the remote areas served.

What are your preferred strategies for faculty, staff, and administration recruitment?

incentives and increased training opportunities

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel

External links

Search Google News for this topic