2026 district 112 School Board Candidate
“A balanced budget requires fiscal discipline and doesn’t require tax increases. Our school district spends $170 million/year. That’s $18,888.88 per student. We can, and should, be able to increase our student achievement with that much money.”
— Joe Scott —
Name: Joe Scott
Website: https://reelectjoescott.com/
Email address: joes@scottassoc.com
City of residence: Chaska
Professional and volunteer background:
Retired advertising agency co-owner (Chanhassen), current guitar repair shop owner (Victoria). Volunteer service: Westbrook Community Church, The Rotary Club of Chanhassen, Southwest Metro Chamber of Commerce, Victoria Business Owners Association, and contributing writer: Victoria Living and Neighbors of Chaska magazines.
What makes you the best candidate in this race:
I won’t compare myself to non-incumbents, only incumbents (Ellie Krug, Tim Klein, Jenny Stone). I am the only incumbent that supports balanced budgets, adding numeric Key Performance Indicators to our superintendent’s contract, counting every vote cast in School Board elections, notifying parents of violent students in their student’s classroom, only girls in girls’ sports, and letting the voters decide to re-authorize levy referenda. I am the only incumbent whose campaign is not, and will not, be funded by the teachers’ union (Chaska Education Association). https://reelectjoescott.com/
What would be your top 3 priorities if elected to the District 112 School Board:
1) Reverse our declining enrollment by aggressively marketing to potential students, right-sizing our administrative and real estate footprints.
2) Only approve balanced budgets.
3) Only compare our students’ academic performance to best-in-class districts. Our 2025 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Proficiency Scores are: Math 61%, Reading 62%, and Science 37%. Those scores are not the fault of teachers or students. They are due to district policies, a lack of board focus on academic achievement, and no academic achievement-related Key Performance Indicators in our superintendent’s contract.
Are there any programs you would like to see augmented or eliminated if you are elected to the School Board:
The voters have given us $7.5 million/year over the next 10 years. We must restore all of the teaching positions that were previously cut. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department’s achievement and integration plan has zero academic Key Performance Indicators. If we close that department, we could hire five to 10 more teachers.
How would you address, if at all, ongoing property tax increases:
I am the only incumbent who supports balanced budgets. A balanced budget requires fiscal discipline and doesn’t require tax increases. Our school district spends $170 million/year. That’s $18,888.88 per student. We can, and should, be able to increase our student achievement with that much money. To see our student achievement scores: https://eccsmcascores.com/
Are you pleased with the progress the District has made over the past year? Why or why not:
No. We compare our students’ academic performance to the performance other mediocre school districts and the sub-optimal performance of state academic averages. That frame of reference causes us to consider ours to be a “Bright Spot.” We should only compare our performance to the “Best of the Best.” Cologne Academy, which is a public school, bests our kindergarten through 8th grade academic performance by 20 percentage points. They accomplish that with less money and a student population similar to ours. Nova Academy, another public school, bests our high school proficiency by 12 percentage points in math, 18 in reading, and 20 points in science. With a different board majority, we could accomplish great things.
