Meet the 2021 school board candidates

To read the full profiles, click on the photo adjacent to the blurb or on the candidates’ names.

District A: Jeff Bachman

Jeff Bachman considers himself somewhat of a rebel on the school board, but he values respect for the school board itself and the people he may disagree with.

“I think that’s good for a school board to be well rounded and have different opinions,” Bachman said. “Sometimes, somebody else will say something and I’m like, ‘I haven’t thought about it like that.’ You have to think about things a little differently.”

District C: Alice Murphy and Andrew Neal

Alice Murphy 

Alice Murphy may be retired from teaching in the school district, where she worked for 35 years, but still can’t get enough of educating: she teaches fitness classes at Gold’s Gym multiple times a week.

“I’m a person who likes to learn and that’s what teaching is: you’re learning and you’re teaching … Once a teacher, always a teacher,” Murphy said.

Andrew Neal

Andrew Neal moved from Southern California to Montrose five years ago. Although Neal isn’t a parent yet, he’s running for school board to advocate for parents.

“I don’t have kids yet,” Neal said. “I’m doing this for the community and for all the kids, not just the ones I would or wouldn’t have. So this is an opportunity to represent all the kids and the parents that vote for us.”

District E: Sarah Fishering and Cortney Loyd 

Sarah Fishering

The only campaign promise Sarah Fishering will make is that she will serve without an agenda and consider every child when making board decisions.

“When I promise to do something, I do it. But that also means that I don’t make promises I can’t keep — I’m very strict about that,” Fishering said. “I also understand the limits of what I can do and what I can’t do, so I know not to make those promises that can’t be kept.”

Cortney Loyd

Cortney Loyd said that she decided to run in the school board race when a friend asked her if she would be interested.

“I just as a community service decided that if I didn’t, someone else would, and it should be somebody that is going to stand up for children’s and parents’ voices,” Loyd said.

District F: Eric Kelley and Dawn Schieldt 

Eric Kelley

Eric Kelley, who is politically unaffiliated, said that he wants to build consensus and reach common understanding in a hyperpartisan world. He said that the board should center what’s best for the students when making decisions.

“At the end of the day, I think with the decisions we make, that should be the central question we have: what is best for the children? What’s best for the school? A lot of times, it may not be what I necessarily think, but I’m able to reach a consensus with my other school board members,” Kelley said.

Dawn Schieldt 

Dawn Schieldt said that she had been contemplating running for school board for months, but she reached a tipping point “where the status quo is not okay” so she decided to run in the election.

“Just don’t keep going just because you can; there’s always room for improvement in our district,” Schieldt said. “And I also believe that if you want to have a voice, you have to be actively engaged and doing something.”

District G: Steve Bush

Steve Bush is running unopposed in District G, a seat that he was appointed to nearly four years ago when nobody else was running. He brings his public safety background — he works as a firefighter for his day job — experience as a parent and deep connections to the community to his seat on the school board.