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The freedom to learn is protected here.
Josh Koestler · Candidate, ISD 535 Board of Education · Rochester, Minnesota
I am running to make sure that the freedom to learn stays protected in our district from anything that would try to narrow it: violence, censorship, AI usage that decreases kids' ability to think for themselves, and any policy or budget decision that would reduce students' odds of thriving in an increasingly complex world.
I've lived in Rochester for 20 years. I worked in our schools as an Education Support Professional for 9 of those years. Now, I work in public service at the Rochester Public Library.
On August 26th, my daughter started kindergarten in Rochester Public Schools, which means this election is extremely personal to me. The world shaped by decisions we make now will be the one that she and your children and your neighbors' children grow up in.
What's clear to me is that her future is brightest when all of our kids' futures are brightest. After all, we all do better when we all do better.
I'm running for school board so that we can better prepare our students for a fast-changing world by keeping purpose, dignity, and belonging at the heart of their education.
RPS Parent
Public Servant, Rochester Public Library
Union President, AFSCME Local 319
Member, Olmsted County Planning Advisory Commission
Member, Olmsted County Zoning Board of Adjustment
BA in Theology, MA in English,
MBA in Healthcare Administration
FOUR PILLARS
What I'll uphold on the board:
01 · VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Self-respect, and respect for others.
Prevention means facing every threat a child faces, whether the threat is in a hallway or at home. We'll achieve this through curriculum with proven results at preventing harm, and through stronger safety nets for students and families who need those resources now.
02 · THE FREEDOM TO READ
The media center belongs to everyone.
Every parent has the fundamental right to guide their own child's reading, and our district's review process does its part by relying on the expertise of educators, librarians, and community members to determine what belongs on shelves. I'll protect RPS from ideology-driven censorship.
03 · A VOICE IN ROCHESTER's GROWTH
When the city builds, RPS must have a seat at the table.
Every tax subsidy and housing decision the city makes shapes who moves here, whether their kids fill our classrooms, and how the tax burden spreads. State law gives the school board a voice in those decisions. I'll make sure the community hears that voice.
THE FOUNDATION OF MY AGENDA: THE STUDENT-PROXIMITY STANDARD
RPS is facing year after year of budget cuts. My approach to deciding what gets cut will be to judge every dollar in the district budget by one standard: can each dollar clearly show its line of sight to a student?
In the classroom
Teachers, Education Support Professionals, materials, and direct student services.
Why these dollars stay:
Every dollar in the budget exists to make the classroom work. I will be adamantly opposed to any district AI policy that would result in losing even a single FTE hour in this space.
In the school building
Principals, counselors, nurses, front office staff, media center professionals.
Why these dollars stay:
These are the people who know students by name. They catch the kid the spreadsheet misses, and they make the classroom possible every single day.
Operations
Buses and transportation, building maintenance, food service, and utilities.
Why these dollars stay:
A student who arrives cold, hungry, or late doesn't learn. These dollars physically carry kids to the desk, fed and ready.
Central administration
Payroll, special education coordination, compliance, HR, district leadership.
Why these dollars stay:
When a central function works, it multiplies impact. The test is whether teachers can feel it working.
Each of these sectors can justify its dollars by pointing to a student. The scrutiny falls on spending that can't draw that line: the initiative nobody in a school building asked for, the layer that reports on the work instead of doing it. The board's job is to make every budget line show its work.
WHO I AM
Dad of the best daughter ever.
I became a father by showing up every day for my daughter over the last three years. This fall she's a kindergartener at RPS.
Every family in this district is sending our schools the center of their world. I know first-hand exactly what that trust weighs, and it's a responsibility that I will never take lightly as a school board director.
The person who does the reading.
I hold an MBA in Healthcare Administration and an MA in English, which means two things are equally important to me: the budget and the story. I believe a school board needs both. When I make a promise in my campaign, you can trust that it is one that I've done the research and preparation to keep.
Where I stand on what's in front of the board right now:
The 2026-27 Budget.
Voters approved a levy in 2024 and the district still cut $8.3 million and 27 positions this June. Both things are true, and the reason is that state aid and both operating levies are paid per student, so every family that leaves takes revenue with them. The referendum's commitments held in that there were no closures and no program cuts. But what's missing is a ledger that the public can easily read, sorted by how far each cut sat from a classroom.
The Facilities Plan.
On August 4th, the board unanimously approved a roughly $44 million plan: career and technical classes move from the RCTC Heintz Center into Century, Mayo, and John Marshall; Phoenix Academy finally gets a building designed for its students; Churchill and Hoover consolidate; early childhood anchors at Gage. All with no tax increase and no boundary changes. I support the direction. What I'd add is a public checkpoint if bids or the October enrollment count miss the plan's assumptions.
The 2030 Strategic Plan.
The district's next four-year plan goes to the board in October, organized around Strong Academics, Student Navigation, Supportive Communities, and Systems for Improvement. Three things I want in it: a robust AI policy, measurable targets for the new Office of Learning Environments, and an annual enrollment report that shows where our families are going and why.
Interviews and Profiles:
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