Rossiter: My Picks for Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees

Within a few weeks we will be getting ballots in the mail for a May vote that includes the opportunity to elect some new people to the Missoula County School Board.

Recently I had the opportunity to interact with six of the candidates running in 2022.  Each is a parent, and all are running because they feel the current board members have lost focus on the fact that their only priority should be on the content and quality of education for the students.  They all believe that the school board should be more responsive to parent’s.

These candidates, as parents, believe that a quality education should prepare Montana young people to become fully functional adults when they leave high school with proficiency in reading, math, science, and an accurate understanding of  U.S. and world history, and how the U.S. representative form of government is supposed to operate.

These candidates fully understand that some of the graduates of the Missoula County education system will go on to college, but that most will not.  They want both groups to have learned the necessary skills to become successful, productive citizens, no matter which path these young people choose.

These candidates understand what the Founding Fathers expressed over and over again – that patriotism and the Judeo-Christian values in the Ten Commandments are the foundation of the American Constitution, for any civilized society, and should always be a part of education. These candidates also know that the most important skill necessary for all adults is the skill of critical thinking, too often missing in education today.

More often than not, school board elections are decided by a very small number of votes.  Please help change the course of education in Missoula.  Please pass this information around to your circle of  friends and other concerned Missoula voters.

I appreciate that these folks are concerned enough to step into the breach by serving our community.  Here is contact information for each if you wish to discuss issues with them yourself.  Not all candidates will be on your specific ballot. 

Michael Gehl: High School District C – Hellgate
406 274-8519   [email protected]  Website

Amy Livesay: Elementary / High School District #1
573 268-4709  [email protected]  Website

Taylor Ramos: High School District B – Target Range / Bonner
701 440-0526  [email protected] 

Karen Sherman: High School District A – Lolo
806 680-9368  [email protected] 

Jill Taber: Elementary / High School District #1
406 490-5216  [email protected]  Facebook

Beth Wanberg: Elementary / High School District #1
406 370-1188  [email protected]

I have no connection with any individual candidate or candidate’s campaign. These are my judgments and mine alone about the candidates.  I will advise each candidate of this email.