Ballots were mailed Friday for Bigfork School elections and voters have until May 4 to return their completed ballots either by mail or to the Bigfork School District Office on election day. Voters will decide whether to renew the term of trustee Christina Relyea, who represents the Bigfork Elementary District, for another three years or elect a new representative.

Trustees are volunteers who serve on the school board where they make decisions regarding school budgets and policy. Trustee Dan Elwell’s term also expires in May, but as he faced no opposition, he will continue representing the Swan River area of the Bigfork High School District for another three years. Two candidates are challenging Relyea for her board seat.

Name: Ben Woods

Profession: Lake County Undersheriff

Education/community involvement: Bachelor's degree in sociology from Montana State University - Billings; master’s degree in management and leadership through Western Governors University; Team member of the Lake County Adult Drug Court

Family: Wife, Beth and a son in kindergarten and a daughter in third grade at Bigfork Elementary School

Why are you running? I was pretty vocal about issues surrounding the school closure. I was not in favor of the continuation of that closure last spring, I was not in favor of the mask mandate, particularly for the smaller children.

Those are the two things that distinguish me from the incumbent I'm running against.

I know a lot of people run for school board because they’re mad at a teacher, coach or administrator, but I don't have an ax to grind with any of those people. I have my opinions but I'm a level headed person.

I was born and raised in Montana. I want to try to preserve what we have here and preserve the reasons why people are coming here.

Name: John Michael Knopik

Profession: CPA, financial planner with Ascent Wealth Management

Education/community involvement: Bachelor’s degree from Carroll College in accounting and finance; MBA through Colorado State University

Family: Wife, Jennifer, is the school nurse; the couple are Montana natives who have three boys in the Bigfork School District

Why are you running?

There's a couple reasons -- with what I see, the pressures in the labor market are getting so extreme with artificial intelligence and automation — it’s creating a challenging labor market as we go forward. I want to make sure [Bigfork students] have the tools to be successful in tomorrow's job market. I think it’s going to get incredibly competitive.

School funding is going to become much more challenging after this COVID stimulus wears off, so a focus on fiscal efficiency is really important and I think my background in finance would be helpful in navigating those funding challenges.

Name: Christina Relyea

Profession: Professor of natural resources and Director of the Honors Program at Flathead Valley Community College

Education: Bachelor’s degree in microbiology; a master’s degree in zoology and a doctorate in ecology; also holds a teaching license and taught high school while working on her master’s degree; continuing education through workshops and trainings in the educational field

Community involvement: Member of the Bigfork Community United Methodist Church; Bigfork trustee for the past six years

Family: Has one son who is a sophomore at Bigfork High School

Why are you running?

I'm running for the open Bigfork trustee position because I really care about education for all the children in our community and I have many decades of experience in the educational field so I have a lot of knowledge and experience that I can contribute. We have great teachers and staff at Bigfork schools. The Bigfork school system has not been afraid to try new things and I feel that they are always looking for ways to help all the kids be successful. I support all the different pathways a young adult can take upon graduating high school and do not believe in a one size fits all approach. We have a strong track record in students that go into the trades as well as those who go on to college or enter the workforce. The school is fiscally solid and that is not the case for all schools. Every organization faces challenges and as a trustee, I will listen, gather information, and make an informed decision on what I think is best for all the children of the Bigfork community.