GREAT FALLS — Great Falls Rising hosted a candidate forum at Great Falls College-MSU on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, for the upcoming Great Falls Public Schools Board of Trustees election.
Four people are on the ballot to fill three positions: Craig Duff, Gordon Johnson, Tony Rosales, and Paige Turoski.
Great Falls Rising is a non-partisan educational organization hoping to bring the community together to educate themselves on civic issues.
David Saslav, a board member of Great Falls Rising, said, “Each election is different of course. In the case of the school board, there's a very vigorous debate open right now about who should control the curriculum, who should control the eligibility, the programs, the extracurriculars…obviously the curriculum. And you know…who sits on the school board has a lot to do with that.”
WATCH:
Although Craig Duff doesn’t see himself as a politician, he has seen as a volunteer what makes the Great Falls schools special.
Duff, a Board of Trustees candidate said, “I know what the teachers are going through. I've been in the classrooms and seen the challenges, and I think they're all doing a tremendous job with what they've got, and I just want to make sure that, you know, the Great Falls Public Schools, is a strong school district, and I want to see it continue to be a strong school district in the future.”
Candidate Tony Rosales is following in his grandmother’s footsteps to care for his community and its education.
Rosales said, “I felt that I need to run for school board to be able to give back to my community that has given me so many opportunities in my history.”
He wants to address the budget cuts and failing test scores that have been seen over the past five years: “It's important not to be cutting those positions or those programs or those policies that help elevate those students achievements, instead finding out how else we could cut budgets or how else we can generate revenue.”
Paige Turoski has already served a term with the board, and is looking to extend her outreach once again. As a parent herself, she hopes to increase recruitment and retention of teachers as well as lessen student dropout rates.
Turoski said, “I've had a really great time, being able to serve the people in Great Falls on the board… I've enjoyed my time on the budget and policy committees and those sorts of views I get of the district. And I would just be honored to have the opportunity to serve again for the next term.”
Gordon Johnson is another incumbent and the current chair of the Great Falls Public School Board, and is running because of his love and concern for the district.
Johnson said, “I think the most important thing in our schools is our ability to communicate with the citizens, whether they're parents or grandparents. It's really important that they feel a connection to the Great Falls Public Schools. It's such an important part of our lives on so many levels, including the community level.”
This will be a mail-only election, which the GFPS school board has done for many years. The election will be on May 6, 2025.
