Press Release: “Rosales Pushes for Proactive Leadership Within GFPS Board”
Editors note: The following press release was received by E-City Beat Monday morning. We are publishing it without edits or editorial comment. The press release doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinion of E-City Beat or any of our contributors and it is not a campaign endorsement for Tony Rosales.
Emphasizing Constructive Change While Acknowledging Good Faith Efforts of All Parties
GREAT FALLS, MT, April 8, 2024 – In recent weeks, Tony Rosales has engaged in critical discussions regarding an identified conflict of interest (link), speaking with both school administrators and members of the involved non-profit. A summary of findings are as follows:
· Lance Boyd, the Executive Director for Student Achievement and Director of Student Services at GFPS, previously held positions on the board and as chair of the organization Peace Place
· In February 2024, Boyd resigned from his role at Peace Place, indicating a key reason for his departure included scheduling conflicts between school board and non-profit board meetings
· Peace Place receives funding from various sources including government grants, with the majority coming from grant application programs and a smaller portion from funding that follows students
· Boyd’s role in any fund transfers or referrals of children and families to community resources have additional oversight mechanisms beyond the Director of Student Services’ purview
· Peace Place’s aims to provide “respite with a purpose,” which is a unique community offering defined as support and supervision to provide temporary relief to a primary caregiver
· Peace Place also provides educational services, albeit this is not their main mission
· Both Superintendent Tom Moore and Executive Director Lance Boyd emphasized that administrators are highly encouraged to be involved in the community and to serve on non-profit boards that align with their passions
Acknowledging the Executive Director’s resignation, it is still evident there was a past conflict of interest with GFPS’ commitment to students. Holding dual roles that have substantially overlapping responsibilities posed substantial risk to GFPS. Any risk, known or unknown, associated with Peace Place was inextricably linked to GFPS, and had the potential to impose significant legal costs despite our current budget deficits. While we can advocate for community involvement of our administrators, it must come with School Board oversight rather than individual discretion.
The significant community response, including over 1,000 social media engagements and numerous private messages expressing concern, underscores the need for greater oversight and evaluation, especially for special education programs and external community resources.
This situation illustrates the critical need for more assertive leadership from the school board. To rebuild trust within the community, we urge the school board to take immediate and transparent action by:
· Publicly addressing this conflict of interest, including the board’s prior knowledge and stance on such external appointments
· Providing a comprehensive list of cabinet members’ involvement in other organizations, possible conflicts of interest within that list and GFPS, and clarifying if the board approves
· Developing and implementing robust conflict of interest policies to better mitigate risk, including an approval procedure ensuring awareness of administrative engagements within the community