Ryan DeBates of Luverne took the oath of office Thursday night, Dec. 22, becoming an official member of the Luverne School Board.
DeBates won his board seat in a special election in November, filling the position vacated by Jeff Stratton. Stratton resigned the post in July after being hired as the district’s resource officer.
DeBates will serve the final two years of Stratton’s four-year term.
Retired school board member Colleen Deutsch was appointed to fill Stratton’s position until after the election.
In his report to the board, Superintendent Craig Oftedahl thanked Deutsch and retiring board members Katie Baustian, Jodi Bosch and Reva Sehr.
“Thank you for your service and a special thanks for the guidance to the school and community through the building project. Your vision and energy fueled the fire to not only instigate the project, but to see it through,” he said.
Elected to replace the three retiring board members were Mike DeBates, Zach Nolz and Randy Sasker. They will officially take office in January.