Going out on top
BY RALPH MANCINI
EDITOR
Although there may never be an optimal time to bow out of the education scene for a long-time administrator who’s dedicated to his craft, Washburn Superintendent Brad Rinas is ready to hand off the keys to Penny Hetletved while not quite sure of what lies ahead for him in the near future.
Since first stepping on campus in succeeding the outgoing Robert Tollefson in 2008, Rinas didn’t have much time to devise ways of leaving his imprint on the school, as his energies were better served in addressing a diminishing school population.
“I didn’t come here, look at the school and say ‘Well, there’s some things here that I definitely want us to do.’ I mean, I didn’t really approach it that way. The school district had a good reputation and it was a positive place in a nice community,” recalled the Egeland product, who formerly served as an administrator in Carrington and Hazelton.
“Rural schools were bleeding students at the time. The oil boom hadn’t really taken off yet and so, we all were — not just me — all administrators, all boards in the area were looking at ways to stabilize districts. We were down to 255 students at that time? How do you offset that?”
