Scott Walter

Scott Walter, 59, a bridge engineer for the Montana Department of Transportation, has served on the school board for 18 years — the last 12 of those as chair. He is also on the Montana School Board Association. “It has been a labor of love,” he said.

Walter has lived in Montana all his life. He was born in Billings and has lived in the East Helena area for the past 33 years.

When Walter first ran for the school board 18 years ago, he aimed to create greater transparency and accountability to the public. Since then, he said the board has done an “excellent job” of providing transparency in relation to their decision making. This transparency is now ingrained in the board’s philosophy, he said, adding that it is now a part of their practice to encourage the public to participate in meetings and circulate local surveys to gauge public opinion.