The year 2024 was a big year in the United States for many reasons. Politically, the one that affected all Americans was the fact that it was a presidential election year.
In a few days, the next president will be sworn into office. But that’s not the only leadership transition that will happen in the coming weeks.
Just this past Friday, January 10th, three candidates were in the running to be the next president of the Missoula Education Association, or MEA. MEA is a nonprofit group of teachers within Missoula County Public Schools. They are the sole and exclusive representation for collective bargaining with respect to wages, hours, fringe benefits, and other conditions of employment for all members. There are different representatives for all the high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools.
At the end of 2024, the MEA president at the time stepped down before their term was up. Doug Rossberg filled in as interim president and three candidates put their names in to become the next MEA leader. The candidates were Scott Chook, Christine Kolczak, and Beth Cole. In their presidential candidate brochure, they all state that they have been teaching for more than 20 years. “We will announce our new President on Wednesday, January 15th after the candidates have been informed and begin to work on a transition plan with MCPS administration,” Rossberg said.
As promised, on January 15 Rossberg announced the new president: Scott Chook. Rossberg said, “We hope to have him serving as our full-time release president by February.”
Rossberg went on to explain, “When you are the president of the MEA you then have full time release, meaning that you no longer have a teaching assignment, so you are only the president of the teacher’s union.”
According to Rossberg, some roles that a president has to take on are working closely with teachers to disseminate new information from superintendents and the district administration. They also help provide professional development in conjunction with the Montana Federation of public employees.
In Rossberg’s experience, he said “I answered day-to-day questions and helped teachers solve problems, or responded to issues in different school buildings.”
When asked how the MEA leadership change will impact Missoula schools, Big Sky teacher and High School MEA Representative Melissa Boys said, “With a new president, there won’t be much change. The president doesn’t get to add new rules at any point in time,” Boys said.
Boys, who used to be a student teacher at Big Sky, has now been teaching at Big Sky for six years. She teaches semester Government to sophomores, History of the Americas to juniors, and I.B Psychology to juniors and seniors. Boys has been the union representative for all of the high schools within MCPS and is on the executive board of the MEA. She meets with Principal Jennifer Courtney once a month to discuss new incoming information on new changes and ideas within Big Sky High School and other high schools around Missoula.
According to Boys, being the president of the MEA means being in charge of how the union applies their contract. “The contract is like our constitution” said Boys. The contract involves teachers’ rights under Montana school laws, access to information, use of facilities, and academic freedom.
Chook will begin his term as MEA president by February. Until then, he will be working alongside Rossberg, who is set to become a vice president for MEA once Chook takes over.
In the meantime, Rossberg will be covering all questions and concerns throughout the MCPS district, alongside the second vice president Shannon Judge.
