Meet Cassandra Palmer
Candidate for School Board
I am currently serving in my 8th year on the Saint Anthony - New Brighton school board. During that time the district and community have lived through tremendous change. Through it all, my fundamental belief about public education has never wavered. I believe that education has essential value and that every child has the right to a high-quality education. I believe that public education forms the foundation of future citizens in our representative democracy and that a well-functioning, high quality public education system provides the backbone for a vibrant economy. These are core values that I believe and they have allowed me to become the person that I am today.
I was born and raised in a suburb of Milwaukee and I am a first generation college graduate. While my father was a high school graduate, my mother was only able to attend public school through the 8th grade. She made it her mission to ensure that I received the education that she didn’t have. They moved into Saint Anthony Village in 2010 to be closer to our family and spent their golden years living at Autumn Woods and then at Chandler Place.
My husband and I have lived in the district since 2005. From the first time we drove into the village and toured our future home, we knew we wanted to live here. Being a parent in the district, working full time, and serving on the school board for 2 terms has provided me with knowledge and experience that is needed to guide the district at the board level through changing expectations regarding what our schools should provide for students. My eldest son, Jacob graduated in 2020 from the district. My younger son, Samuel is a Junior this year at SAVHS and will graduate in 2025. They have spent the entirety of their K-12 experience within our district. I had the bulk of my own education within public institutions in Wisconsin, including K-12 education, pre-medical studies, and medical school. I completed my Surgical Residency training and Critical Care Fellowship at HCMC and recently completed additional Fellowship training at the University of Minnesota.
School Board Service:
- Minnesota School Board Board Delegate Assembly 2023
- instrumental in creating resolutions which become the basis for the MSBA legislative platform and lobbying efforts on behalf of all Minnesota public school boards
- Negotiation Committee
- Teaching and Learning committee District and Community
- New Board member mentor
- Local incident team
- SANBE Foundation
- MSHSL (past)
- Policy committee (past)
- Calendar committee (past)
- Audit committee (past)
- Board Treasurer (past)
- Board Clerk (past)
- St Anthony Village Parks and Environmental Commission (past)
Education/Work
- University of Wisconsin Medical School 1995 -1999
- HCMC Surgical Residency and Surgical Critical Care Fellowship 1999-2005
- Regions Hospital – Trauma, Acute Care Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. 2005 – present
- Medical Director of the Surgical Intensive Care unit. 2019 – 2021
- Fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine University of MN. 2022-23
On November 7th, re-elect Cassandra Palmer for the St. Anthony – New Brighton School Board