Sarah Larsen
MN · ISD 197 School Board Chair
Sarah Larsen chairs the school board and manages a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency program. She focuses on school funding and retaining teachers and staff.
Where Sarah Larsen stands, based on their records
Supports
Public Education Quality (3 records), Civil Rights (3 records)
Mixed record
Government Spending Reduction (2 support · 3 oppose)
Track record
Track record — Government Spending Reduction
Government Spending Reduction · 2 support · 3 oppose
Voted to put a capital project levy question on the November 3, 2026 ballot. It asks voters for about $4.6 million a year for 10 years for safety, technology, buses, and building upkeep. It passed 6-0.
August 10, 2026Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Voted to approve a three-year plan to raise achievement for students of color and improve racial and economic integration. The plan uses about $1.14 million in state money. It passed 5-0.
March 16, 2026Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Voted to approve the budget plan for the 2026-27 school year. The plan set a goal to cut $2.5 million in costs. It passed 6-0.
March 2, 2026Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Voted to approve a two-year contract for about 450 district teachers. It gave a 1.25% raise the first year and $1,250 more per pay step the second year. It passed 6-0.
October 6, 2025Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Spoke against raising school board members' yearly pay. She said she was not comfortable with a raise until the district's reserve funds recovered. The board kept pay the same on a 4-2 vote.
August 19, 2024Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: weststpaulreader.com
Track record — Public Education Quality
Public Education Quality · 3 support
Voted to put a capital project levy question on the November 3, 2026 ballot. It asks voters for about $4.6 million a year for 10 years for safety, technology, buses, and building upkeep. It passed 6-0.
August 10, 2026Supports Public Education Quality
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Voted to approve a three-year plan to raise achievement for students of color and improve racial and economic integration. The plan uses about $1.14 million in state money. It passed 5-0.
March 16, 2026Supports Public Education Quality
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Voted to approve a two-year contract for about 450 district teachers. It gave a 1.25% raise the first year and $1,250 more per pay step the second year. It passed 6-0.
October 6, 2025Supports Public Education Quality
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Track record — Civil Rights
Civil Rights · 3 support
Voted to approve a plan to give families trained interpreters and translated information in the languages they understand. It passed 6-0.
May 4, 2026Supports Civil Rights
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Voted to approve a three-year plan to raise achievement for students of color and improve racial and economic integration. The plan uses about $1.14 million in state money. It passed 5-0.
March 16, 2026Supports Civil Rights
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Read a board statement at a public meeting about federal immigration (ICE) actions in Minnesota. It said every student should feel safe and valued, whatever their ethnicity or immigration status.
January 12, 2026Supports Civil Rights
Source: weststpaulreader.com
Track record — General
General · 6 records
Voted to move $4.5 million in leftover building bond money into the general fund for future repairs, equipment, and technology, without raising taxes. It passed 7-0.
June 15, 2026
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Testified as board chair to a Minnesota House committee for a bill (HF 3470). The bill let District 197 move leftover building fund money into its general fund.
March 12, 2026
Source: house.mn.gov
Voted to approve a three-year contract for Superintendent Peter Olson-Skog. It gave raises of 1.25% to 1.5% a year and lowered the district's share of his health insurance. It passed 5-0.
December 8, 2025
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Voted to set the district's final property tax levy for 2026 at about $39.5 million. That was 0.8% lower than the year before. It passed 5-0.
December 8, 2025
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Voted to close grades 7-12 to new students from outside the district for the 2025-26 school year, because classes were near capacity. It passed 6-0.
October 6, 2025
Source: meetings.boardbook.org
Was elected chair of the school board in a unanimous board vote.
January 8, 2024
Source: weststpaulreader.com
Past race Sarah Larsen ran in:
- West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan School Board Member (ISD 197) · November 3, 2026 · West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan, Minnesota · incumbent