Parent and Special Education advocate Mary Tepas has been selected to fill a vacancy on the Kalispell Public Schools Board of Trustees.

Tepas was one of four candidates who interviewed for the open seat vacated by Dave Schultz. She was sworn in at a special meeting Aug. 25.

Schultz submitted his brief letter of resignation July 20, simply stating he was formally resigning. “It has been a pleasure serving on the board,” Schultz wrote.

Tepas works in a management position at Vubiquity, a media services company based in Kalispell.

As a volunteer, she serves as a training coordinator for the Glacier Area Management Team for Special Olympics Montana and is a parent adviser for Special Olympics’ Youth Activation Committee.

Tepas is the parent of a junior and senior who attend Flathead High School and became interested in Special Education when her youngest son was diagnosed with autism. Tepas and her husband were among the founding members of the Northwest Montana Chapter of the Autism Society of America.

“I am passionate about kids,” Tepas said. “My son has flourished in the Kalispell schools Special Education program, but there’s always room for improvement.”

Tepas also has experience addressing the board and in part, was among a group of parents and organizations that successfully advocated to get transportation funding reinstated for Kalispell Middle School students to attend the 2014 state winter games.

Out of that discussion, Tepas was part of a committee that helped create a memorandum of understanding between the district and Special Olympics Montana.

Her experience advocating for children with special needs was one of qualities that would add to the school board, according to trustees Tom Clark and Lance Isaak.

Isaak and Clark served on a four-person committee that interviewed the candidates. The other two trustees on that committee were Jeremy Reed and Steve Davis.

“Part of what our committee appreciated about her was that she was a strong advocate for Special Olympics,” Isaak said. “She also has a good, solid professional background that would complement our board really well.”

Clark said it was a plus that the board had interacted with Tepas before and that she is a parent of children currently attending school in the district.

“In my opinion, Mary brings a little bit of a different perspective to the board. She is a mother with kids in the district. For me, it brings a better perspective to the board,” Clark said. “We have several on the board who have kids, but their kids are grown. She also has good business experience.”

Other candidates who interviewed for the seat were Barb Andersen, David Girardot and Devin Kuntz. Clark and Isaak expressed similar sentiments in that they were impressed with the quality of all four candidates.

Tepas will serve on the board until the May 2016 election. If re-elected, she will fulfill a two-year term since Schultz was initially seated for a three-year term.