This week, MTN’s Emma Hamilton sat down with each of the three candidates running for two openings on the Bozeman School Board: incumbents Tanya Reinhardt and Andy Willett, and challenger Gary McGowan.
You can read below to learn more about the candidates and link to their interview segment from this week.
The election is next Tuesday, May 7, and ballots must be received at the election office by 8 pm.
Tanya Reinhardt
Montana native Tanya Reinhardt is running for her second term on the school board.
While she was never directly involved in schools as a teacher or an administrator, she comes from parents who were both educators and said she has always known the significance of education.
“I’ve always known the importance of public schools in the state of Montana and the role that the school board can play in that,” Reinhardt said.
Reinhardt is passionate about the early literacy rates that the district has been working on, the Safe T-I grant, and exploring alternative funding for working with trauma-impacted students. Being on the board is something Reinhardt has enjoyed volunteering her time to over the past three years.
“Knowing that we’re making a positive impact on the students within the community and just trying to be a part of a very small piece of the puzzle that will have a long term impact on the health of the valley,” she said.
Reinhardt brings a unique perspective to the board.
“I think part of my military background, serving 22 years in the Army, gave me a perspective that is a little bit broader than it otherwise would have been. I’m able to see most issues from multiple viewpoints and really try to think critically about what is best for the majority,” Reinhardt said.
If re-elected, she plans to keep the board connected to the community.
“I very much appreciate the trust that the community has placed on the board and the support that they have given us. We don’t take that lightly. We don’t take that for granted, and I very much want to keep that dialogue open so that we can hear what is most important to our students, our teachers, our staff, and the community at large.”
Gary McGowan
Gary McGowan is the challenger in this year’s race, running against incumbents Andy Willett and Tanya Reinhardt.
His platform focuses on graduating more low-income students, addressing issues with bullying, and implementing transition programs for new students to the district.
“Now because Bozeman is such an anomaly when it comes to population growth, I believe what we are seeing is, we are consistently playing catch-up with the policies that other states and districts are implementing around the United States instead of forging ahead and building our own programs that take care of our unique situation,” McGowan said.
McGowan said the programs he would like to see adopted include ones like the Sandy Hook promise that includes being dedicated to preventing gun-related deaths due to crime and some type of program to help new students make a smooth transition into the district.
After coming to Bozeman in 1993, McGowan eventually dropped out of high school at 16 years old after he was bullied and says he slipped through the cracks.
Now, one of the major influences for him running for a trustee position is wanting to graduate more low-income students.
In 2018, Bozeman graduated about 70 percent of low-income students while the state average sits at 78 percent.
McGowan said, “then that would just mean we are producing more undereducated people into the community which is going to end up in crimes, they’re going to end up in jail and they are going to end up relying on our social systems.”
If elected, McGowan wants the community to feel comfortable approaching the board with any issue someone may have within the district.
“If they have a struggle, a bullying struggle, that they will not sit before the board like I did and the board look back at them with seven, eight, ten blank faces. But instead they will have an advocate who says ‘You elected me here and I’m going to work for you.’ So we will either fix things from the inside, as I’m hoping to do, or if it doesn’t happen we just have to keep fighting,” McGowan said.
Andy Willett
Andy Willett has been serving on the school board for seven years and has been the chair for the past three.
Willett was originally appointed to the board after a member resigned, and following that he ran for election twice. Now on his third run, he believes he will be able to continue to bring a lot to the board if re-elected.
“I think critically; I think, certainly, on the best interest of the kids but keeping in mind the taxpayer,” Willett said.
Willett’s roots run deep into being a part of the Bozeman School District. Before his time on the board he was a part of the Bozeman Schools Foundation. Since the beginning of his time on the board, Willett has been a part of opening Meadowlark Elementary and now, Gallatin High School.
His daughter graduated from Bozeman High last spring and his son is currently a junior. Even though Willet will soon have kids that are out of the school district, he said he doesn’t only sit on the board because he’s a parent, but rather for the greater good.
Willet believes his time on the board so far has overall been successful.
“People would look at our involvement right now on the school board primarily as building schools and asking for money and bonds…there’s certainly a part of that, but we’re trying to keep our focus on academics also. And I think that balance has been at times difficult, but I think it’s been a pretty big success for us,” he said.
Even though Willet is the current chair, he says the board decides on who the chair will be each year and that’s a decision it will make after the election. If elected, he could be appointed as the chair once again.
