School election: Meet candidate Dave Fern

Dave Fern is seeking his eighth term on the Whitefish School District Board to continue giving back to the community.

“I look at school board as public service,” Fern said. “It continues to be a positive experience for me in respect to the caliber of the individuals on the board and the many great staff people from teachers to the superintendent.”

The owner of Chimney Solutions, Fern has lived in Whitefish since 1989. He and his wife Heather have three grown children, who all graduated from Whitefish High School.

He also has served as president of the Montana School Boards Association, and has been on the board of directors for the Montana High School Association. He serves as chairman of the Flathead Democratic Party, and currently is training to be a volunteer with Court Appointed Special Advocates of Montana.

Fern has spent 21 years on the school board and said during that time he is proud to have been part of the building improvements at the middle school and construction of the new high school that is underway.

“I knocked on literally a thousand doors during the failed and passed bond processes,” he said. “I’m happy to see it pass.”

Fern said the implementation of the Common Core standards has spurred change in the district with increased emphasis on professional development training, changes to the district’s hiring process and curriculum development. He noted the goal continues to be to reach students who aren’t doing as well in the classroom and who need help to succeed after graduation.

“There is expectations of more rigor within the learning environment in Whitefish and throughout the U.S. to be far more competitive at a global level,” Fern said. “The Common Core seems to be driving a lot of what we’re doing and I’m hopeful it’s a positive step for society for the next generation.”

Fern said changes at the high school with the move into a new building and the change to a modified block schedule aren’t easy, but are for the better.

“People are generally nervous about change, even if it’s good,” he said. “We’re going through a process of nurturing that change.”

Whitefish has seen dropping or stagnant enrollment in the last few years. Fern credits cost of living in Whitefish along with the economic downturn as reasons for the drop. In addition, the opening of Glacier High School gave another option to students. Changes with the curriculum, including implementing the block schedule, along with the new building will give students more reasons to choose Whitefish, he said.

“This has really made us reflect on what we’re doing and how we can offer outstanding education,” he said. “I’m hopeful with our new school it will turn a new page. But the rubber on the road is the quality of the education and we have terrific teachers, so we can’t forget that.”

Visiting classrooms at the high school, Fern said he continually sees the bell ring for the end of class in the middle of important discussions or projects. He said the switch to longer class periods along with teacher training will allow students to thrive.

The district continues to face tight budgets as much of the funding is largely based on student enrollment counts.

Fern said the district faces a lot of budget challenges including salary obligations making up a large portion of budget obligations, federal special education funding not meeting district costs and meeting basic staffing needs with smaller enrollment. The district has to look at all non-essestial expenditures as places where funds can be trimmed so it doesn’t interfere with instruction, he said.

“It pushes our budget when we’re not growing in enrollment,” Fern said. “We need more students and/or more state money toward K-12 education.”