Editor’s Note: The Beacon asked slightly different questions to incumbent and non-incumbent candidates. Will Hiatt is an incumbent. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Flathead Beacon: Could you tell me a little bit about yourself and your relationship to the Kalispell Public Schools?
Will Hiatt: I’ve been living in the valley for 15 years. I have a degree in elementary education, but I’ve been working in the private industry, in the computer field, for most of my life. A position came open as a school board trustee, and I wanted to do something in the schools. So I applied, and it happened during that year that no one else ran. So I got the position, and I’m just finishing my first three-year term.
FB: Finishing up your first term, is there anything you want to highlight that you’re proud of during your tenure on the board? Are there things you think the board has accomplished since you’ve joined it?
WH: The biggest thing in this term was the pandemic. I think that we did a great job of handling the pandemic. School District 5 never closed any of its schools. We were quick to come back to in-school learning. But we also navigated remote learning. One of the benefits of that is, currently, at any point that we need to, we can transition to a remote learning environment. So that means fewer snow days, those sorts of interruptions.
One of the biggest accomplishments was that we were awarded School Board of the Year by the Montana School Board Association.
The Kalispell Public Schools Board of Trustees in 2021 was named the School Board of the Year by the Montana Association of School Superintendents.
FB: Are there things you look forward to changing or accomplishing if you’re reelected to the board?
WH: I think the biggest one is that we still have plans for student growth, not only in the sense that we expect to have more students coming into the valley and we’re starting to run out of physical space for that, but also, we know that we can do better in teaching our students. We have pretty high standards. We’re always kind of pushing our envelope. Though to do that, we need funding. One of our drawbacks is that we’ve not been able to communicate to the community the benefits of supporting our school fully. So we’ve had levies that have failed. That’s one thing we’re really hoping to do. We’re really hoping to show how putting money into our schools benefits the Flathead Valley and benefits everybody. So that’s something that we’re working towards.
FB: What will your main goals or priorities be if re-elected to the school board?
WH: This is my first term, and I think that trustees require some time to learn what being a trustee even is. So, by the time I’ve finished my three-year term, I think I’m just starting to understand the responsibilities of a trustee. Also, during these last few years, I had a full-time job, so I wasn’t able to devote as much time to being a trustee as I would have liked. But, I’m retiring this month, and so during another term if I were to get it, I could devote more time to it. In that sense, what I hope to do is to get more acquainted with the schools that are in my district that I represent. There are some I still haven’t even visited. And do some outreach in the community to make sure that folks have an opportunity to let me know what they prioritize as far as the school district.