David McGee was selected by the Nevis School Board at a work session on Thursday, Sept. 21 to fill the remainder of the term vacated by Maggie Stacey.
Ben Hass and Dawn Barnard were interviewed before the board made the decision to appoint McGee.
“The board felt comfortable with Dave’s focus on placing kids first and his interest in the future vision for education at Nevis,” Superintendent Gregg Parks said. “Dave will complete Maggie’s term, which ends next year.”
McGee owns D&S Seamless Siding in Nevis. He and his wife, Rhonda, have three sons who graduated from Nevis High School.
“I’m also a coach for the Nevis-Walker wrestling program,” he said. “I’ve done that for about 13 years. My sons, Dawson and Dylan, went to state in wrestling three times and Dustin just missed going.”
Dustin is 26, Dylan is 23 and Dawson is 18 and graduated last year.
McGee said all three got a good education at Nevis School.
I want to give back to the community. School boards can have a thankless job, but they need people to put good policies in place.
David McGee
“All of them were in the industrial arts program,” he said. “Not every kid is going to be a scientist or a lawyer. I’m a blue-collar guy. America right now needs more blue collar workers.
“Programs that offer kids a head start are a great deal. Dustin did all of his generals before he went to college. That saved him a lot of time and money. He went to Central Lakes Technical College and works for Arvig now.
“Dylan ended up going into the building utility mechanic program at Rochester Community and Technical College, and he’s qualified to do building maintenance. He is working for Andy Lindow Plumbing in Nevis. Dawson is working for me doing siding, windows and seamless gutters.”
McGee said he wants to make sure students now have the same opportunities his boys did.
“Over the years, I’ve heard many people say that Nevis is a great school district,” he said. “They’re known for being one of the top schools, and I want that to continue. They also seem to pump out some solid sports programs. I think that’s something everybody in town can get behind. Sports give people the opportunity to go in and cheer on their hometown team. I want to give back to the community. School boards can have a thankless job, but they need people to put good policies in place.” One issue McGee said the district will likely need to address in the future is growth.
“Our district’s growing all of the time,” he said. “People are trying to move in here. At some point, we may need to look at expanding the school, thinking about the future, maybe building an elementary or high school.”
He said he will be easing into his new position as a board member.
“Obviously, it will be a little bit of a learning curve,” he said. “Ultimately, whether there’s push back or not, I believe we have to do what’s right for the students. It’s not about us or the community or about the teachers. It’s really about the kids. We need to make sure we have the right policies that benefit them.”
Lorie Skarpness has lived in the Park Rapids area since 1997 and has been writing for the Park Rapids Enterprise since 2017. She enjoys writing features about the people and wildlife who call the north woods home.
