BOZEMAN — If you’ve been following the Bozeman School Board, then you most likely know Douglas Fischer and Gary Lusin, but maybe not the newest member, Lei-Anna Bertelson.
“For me being a trustee, I’m in a different place in the process, and I’m very curious, very excited, very interested in how I can bring my skills and my perspective to that process,” Bertelson told MTN News.
The newly elected trustee had the second-highest number of votes correlating with a successful campaign, but Bertelson says the real work starts now.
“That’s what I’m excited about. I mean, I’m excited that the results came out the way that they did but I’m excited to start the work,” she said.
And Bertelson has several topics she can’t wait to start working on.
“When I think about everything in K12 education, a lot of it for me comes down to equity. I’m always asking myself like, well, who are we not including? Who is not being served? It’s equity of resources, and it’s how we look at our system. How do we make sure everyone has felt included and that everybody has access?”
The trustee says she understands her position on the board is one piece of the process.
“I’m not out there promoting a curriculum or anything like that. The trustee position is one of governance, and that’s a step back from when I was a teacher, and it’s a different lens than as a parent,” Bertelson said.
The pandemic changed education in many ways and provided a lot of challenges, but that’s one of the areas Bertelson is looking forward to the most.
“Moving forward with the pandemic, that’s what everybody is wondering how that’s going to look," she said. "Secondly, the other thing I talked about is that we’re hiring a new superintendent, so I’m very interested in that process because the leadership’s going to matter.”
The trustees will be sworn in at the May 17 school board meeting.
