Get Involved: Run for Missoula School Boards & Special Districts Today!

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - I spoke with Missoula County Deputy Elections Administrator Sarah Bell recently about the fact that those interested in running for school and special district elections are invited to throw their hats in the ring.

“The candidates filing are for the local boards who serve at the school district level, and then we also have our special districts like water irrigation, fire districts throughout the county and some in the city as well,” began Bell. “In addition, there are the school district positions who serve on the local school boards throughout the county.”

Details for Those Interested in Running for School Boards and Special Districts

Bell listed some of the offices being sought by the candidates.

“Anything from a community council,” she said. “There are seven community councils throughout the county, such as Bonner, Clinton, West Valley, Seeley Lake, Swan, and those are councils who represent their communities, the county commissioners. And then there are smaller district boards. For instance, the small tax districts that folks see on their tax bill, their Fire Districts, or their Sewer Districts. There's a board of people who are in charge of those districts and who meet monthly, and if someone is interested in representing their community on those boards, this is their time to run for office.”

Bell then addressed the people who were interested in running to serve on local school boards.

Interested People can Register to Run for Local School Boards

“For the school boards; they're similar, but they represent the schools for their districts,” she said. “If someone is interested in being more engaged with the conversation of how the school operates, this would be the time for them to run for a position to serve on the school board so they can help make decisions regarding finances and the curriculum and the way the school operates.”

Bell was careful to delineate the separate filing deadlines for the various offices.

There are Separate Filing Deadlines for Special Districts and School Boards

“The special districts and the school board have two different filing deadlines, but the election will be on the same day,” she said. “The special district deadline for candidate filing is 5:00 p.m. Monday, February 10, so it's a little faster turnaround on that one. Then for the school districts, their deadline to file is 5:00 p.m. Thursday, March 27 so they could come to our office for those school district positions and file here, or they can download a form from our Missoula votes.com website.”

Click here to get more details on running for these important local offices.