2025 Trustee Election Questionnaire: Angela Galle

Angela Galle

Age:  44          

Length of residency in Anaconda:  24 years

Born and raised where:  Pendleton, Oregon

Occupation:  Financial Officer at Galle Plumbing & Heating

Family: Married to Jeff Galle with 5 children – Gabe – 20; Larkin – 19; Brody – 17; Karson – 14; Jaxton - 12

Education:  

• Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology & Political Science – University of Montana 2002

• Juris Doctorate in Law – University of Montana 2010

Military service, if any: None

Previous political offices held and/or memberships in community/professional organizations: 

• Current Trustee for the regional Pipe Trades Trust of the Northern Rocky Mountain Area

• Former Anaconda School Board Trustee – served multiple terms

• Former Anaconda Little League President

• Former Anaconda Little League Softball Coordinator 

Question 1: Why are you running for school board, and what skills will you bring to the board?

I am running for the school board because I care deeply about the kids of Anaconda and the quality of their education.  As a former school board trustee I am aware of the many challenges our school district faces. I believe that the following three objectives are the most important to our students and teachers reaching their full potential: school safety – from outside of school walls as well as within, teacher retention and teaching efficacy, and maximizing the potential of each student. In recent years, I feel that there are a number of internal and external threats to our students reaching their maximum potential as well as our teachers being able to effectively teach. I believe there are some changes that the board of trustees can support that will help Anaconda Schools move the needle toward maximizing the potential of each of our students and optimizing the potential of our teachers and staff.  I am running for the school board because I believe I have the analytical and problem-solving skills to help move Anaconda School District toward greatness from both a student and staff perspective. 

Question 2: How will you work to improve communication in the school district among the board, the administration, staff, students and the public?

I will support measures to streamline and simplify the communication tools our staff, parents, students and teachers utilize districtwide. A simple district-wide calendar that is utilized by all schools, filterable and accessible to families and the public would be a high priority.  I also hope that our next Superintendent can help bridge the gap between the school community and greater community through advocacy and outreach. Through such advocacy I hope the School District and various partnering agencies in the community could further strengthen and enrich their collaboration to the benefit of our students and staff as well as the great community of Anaconda as a whole. I have seen progress toward such collaboration, such as community clean-up days and participation of various organizations in our community at high school job fairs and other school events, which I hope we would build upon.  I would also like to see an annual or bi-annual informal “Meet the Board” function where the board makes itself available to talk with members of the community in a meet and greet setting to improve community and board relationships and accessibility.      

Question 3: The percentage of students with special needs continues to rise in our district. What can the board do to guarantee this population receives access to a quality education while still providing the same opportunities to its traditional and exceptional students?

I strongly believe in providing an educational model that supports each student reaching their full potential and removing barriers that may exist to this. My concerns as a parent and community member have grown as to the effects of a small percentage of our students who display excessively disruptive, and sometimes violent behavior in our classrooms, which effect the learning environment of the entire classroom as well as our teacher’s ability to teach. I do not believe that all children learn the same and I value educational diversity, therefore I feel that our district should explore options as to de-escalation spaces and alternative classrooms to alleviate disruptions and to maximize the learning outcomes of all students. As mainstream classrooms are not working for some students they may be better served in an alternative learning environment. Leveraging the ideas of our teaching staff would be the best resource to achieving educational greatness for all of our students needs whether they are traditional or exceptional, or those with IEPs, behavioral issues and/or divergent educational needs. All measures the board approves should be based upon maximizing our teachers ability to teach and students ability to learn.    

Question 4: School safety continues to be a concern for students, parents and staff. How will you work with your fellow board members as well as administration, educational staff, parents, students and other stakeholders to address school safety concerns?

Though there is always room for improvement and increased awareness, I feel that our school district has made great strides in securing our buildings from external threats through secure buildings and screening measures to enter, consistent screening of those who interact with our students, and training staff and students in the event of an emergency. My concerns as a parent and community member about threats and instability from within our buildings have grown due to the effects of a small percentage of our student community who display excessively disruptive and sometimes violent behavior. Though these issues are not new, the severity and escalation of some of these behaviors and disruptions have caused or contributed to mental health and safety issues of our students and staff and negatively impacted our school security.  Though I do not have all the answers, I think a very important step is to acknowledge this is a problem that we need to work together to find solutions for. I believe a group of our educators, board members, administrators, counselors and parents would be very effective in identifying solutions to alleviate these problems and improve safety and learning outcomes for all. 

Question 5: In an era of uncertainty in public education and with an increasingly high cost of living in our area, how will you work with other board members, administrators and community stakeholders to recruit and retain high-quality educational staff for our schools?

Retention and recruitment of high-quality staff is an important objective of any organization, particularly in education. Our students deserve the opportunity to learn from the most qualified and exceptional educators and support staff. The rub as to recruitment and retention is balancing costs to tax payers while maximizing available financial resources to provide our educational staff with attractive and competitive compensation packages as well as a safe and welcoming work environment. I believe that some of the measures that should be considered by the board and administration toward these objectives include: retirement incentives, signing bonuses for hard to fill positions with requirements to remain for a proscribed period of time to obtain the bonus, retention bonus achievable for our longer serving employees, and increased opportunities and incentives for in-house staff to obtain additional degrees and certifications to enrich our teaching offerings - such as dual credit certifications, additional teaching credentials, etc. I also feel that open dialogue and collaboration between our unions, superintendent and board would be helpful in identifying ideas to improve recruitment and retention. Ultimately providing a robust and engaging work environment will also help toward retaining high-quality educational staff.

To read Charlie Farmer's questionnaire, go here, and to read Keriann Orrino's questionnaire, go here.