Did Kalispell Public Schools Board and Employees Violate Montana Code of Ethics?
Kalispell Education Association Union President Lynne Rider organized KEA union candidate endorsement forum on school property and using school resources
Email from school district account of Kalispell Education Association union President Lynne Rider organizing candidate forum at public facilities on public school campus. Lynne Rider (top right). Kalispell Superintendent Micah Hill (bottom right).
This op-ed was originally published at Casey Whalen’s Substack.
A recent exposé of emails and text messages show that the upcoming May 2nd Kalispell Public School Board Trustee election has been corrupted by possible violations of the Montana Code of Ethics for public employees. The communications show school district officials and the teachers union President messaging during school time and using school property to host an endorsement panel of potential board trustees.
On March 29, 2023, at 8:03AM, an email was sent from the school district account of Lynne Rider, mathematics teacher at Kalispell Middle School and President of the Kalispell Education Association (KEA) union, promoting a union interview panel of potential board of trustee candidates for endorsement to be held at public facilities at Kalispell Middle School:
Montana Code 2-2-121, Rules Of Conduct For Public Officers And Public Employees, states that a public officer or a public employee may not use public time or public facilities to solicit support or the nomination or election of any person to public office:
(3)(a) Except as provided in subsection (3)(b), a public officer or public employee may not use or permit the use of public time, facilities, equipment, supplies, personnel, or funds to solicit support for or opposition to any political committee, the nomination or election of any person to public office, or the passage of a ballot issue…
MCA 2-2-121: Rules Of Conduct For Public Officers And Public Employees
On April 18, 2023, after the union’s candidate forum, a candidate for the board of trustees not endorsed by the union sent an email to staff attempting to inform Kalispell schools employees of their background and campaign.
Shortly thereafter, Superintendent of Kalispell Public Schools Micah Hill sent the following email to the potential candidate, admonishing them:
No communications admonishing KEA union President Rider for her behavior have been made available.
Mr. Hill then attempted to run damage control by emailing staff regarding the candidate’s communication:
Two days prior, the following email dated April 16, 2023, explains why Superintendent Hill felt the need to protect the candidate endorsements that had already been decided by the Kalispell Federation of Classified Personnel (KFCP) and Kalispell Education Association (KEA).
During school time on April 19, 2023, at 3:31 PM, a text was sent to staff notifying them that the Kalispell Federation of Classified Personnel & Kalispell Education Association had endorsed specific board candidates and new funding levies:
Montana Talks broadcasted this story with Kalispell resident Jim Riley reporting the matter on April 19, 2023:
Incumbent Kalispell Board of Trustees members Scott Warnell and Will Hiatt attended the unethically scheduled and hosted interview panel in order to be vetted by KEA and KFCP. Should these two board members resign since they also possibly breached Montana Code of Ethics when they participated at Kalispell Middle School on April 3, 2023?
Now that the public is aware of the antics of the Kalispell Federation of Classified Personnel union, the possible code of ethics violations from the Kalispell Education Association union President Lynne Rider, and Superintendent Micah Hill’s attempts at damage control, your conservative vote is more important than ever.
Be sure to make it count and vote on May 2, 2023.