A candidate for the St. Cloud school board said Friday that the board should explore “establishment of a high school in St. Joseph.”
Peter Hamerlinck said there should be renovations to Apollo High School and once that plan is completed and approved, a high school for St. Joseph should be examined.
“With continued growth in enrollment along with ‘new’ Tech and improved Apollo facilities, the potential to establish a high school in St. Joseph could be a realistic possibility,” Hamerlinck wrote in a press release.
Hamerlinck, a resident of St. Joseph, suggested the school could be a magnet school with a focus on computer sciences, vocational technology or engineering.
“These focus areas would be an attracter for new businesses coming to the area,” Hamerlinck wrote. “All of these sectors have been and will continue to be growing fields of employment. To have a high school focused on one of these enhance our higher education institutions and the business community.”
He is one of six candidates running for three seats on the St. Cloud school board in the Nov. 6 election. Board members serve four-year terms. Hamerlinck was elected for a four-year term in 2010 and then defeated in the 2014 election. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the board in 2016.