Tumult in Long Prairie: A superintendent dismissed. Students walking out. A school board under fire.

LONG PRAIRIE, MINN. – The school district superintendent dressed up as the school mascot, Thor, on football nights. He read the graduation address in both English and Spanish. He set up office hours in the cafeteria, granting easier access for students.

But now, two months into the school year, Daniel Ludvigson is gone. Or rather, “on special assignment,” according to the terminology of the Long

Prairie-Grey Eagle School Board, which voted 4-3 earlier this month to remove him as superintendent. The move came weeks after voting to not renew his contract, which expires at the end of the school year in June.

Four board members — two of whom voted to oust Ludvigson, including Board Chair Kelly Lemke — are up for re-election next week.

The dismissal is the latest blow in this central Minnesota community on the edge of the prairie. Over the last nine months, the town of 3,400 residents and seat of Todd County has lost its mayor, a city manager, two school board members, and now its superintendent.




https://www.startribune.com/tumult-in-long-prairie-a-superintendent-dismissed-students-walking-out-a-school-board-under-fire/601172403