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School Views: A thank you to our board of education

January is School Board Recognition Month and the perfect time to acknowledge our board of education’s service to our students and our community. School board members exemplify local citizen control and decision-making in education. They volunteer hundreds of hours and an immeasurable amount of energy to ensure that our schools provide the best education possible for all of the students in our community.

Our board members make decisions that affect what our students learn, who will teach them, and what our facilities look like. They help craft our housing initiatives, our budget, and our leadership, specifically the superintendent. Being locally elected officials, they understand our community’s unique problems, our values, and our culture. And they do all of this as volunteers, receiving zero compensation for their time, energy, and efforts.

Too often they go unrecognized and underappreciated, so join me in letting them know how much we truly appreciate their level-headed approach to the work we do together and we understand and thank them for the commitment they have made to our youth and the staff of Eagle County School District.



Dan Reynolds is our president and District G director. When not at his day job as a transactional attorney in Vail, you’ll find him on the slopes or at the ice rink supporting his kids. He joined the board to provide our students with the best education possible and equip them to succeed in all their endeavors. He also takes the lead in keeping our meetings engaging with his willingness to make us laugh.

Lelia Conlin is our board vice president and District B director. She resides in East Vail with her husband, daughter, and dog. Working as a structural engineer, in her free time she volunteers at her daughter’s school. Lelia says she is inspired by the kids, staff, and community at her school and throughout the district.

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Lucila Tvarkunas is our secretary/treasurer and District D director. Born and raised in Argentina, Lucila came to the valley in 2000. She and her husband spend their time traveling the world and raising their two boys. Lu also enjoys volunteering at local schools on top of her board commitments and hits the slopes with her family as often as possible. She is steadfastly committed to being a voice for our Hispanic community.

Kelly Alter serves as director of District A. Having lived in Eagle County since 1994, she became involved in the education system when her children were young. She began serving on the Education Foundation of Eagle County’s Board in 2012 and followed that by running for the school board. She believes investing in public education is fundamental to the success of our children. While spending much of her time supporting E•ƒec and our board, she can still be found enjoying time on the mountain as much as possible.

Harry McQueeney serves as director of District C. Having lived in Eagle County for well over 30 years, Harry brings a unique perspective to our board as a former employee of Eagle County School District, with his experience culminating as an assistant principal at Eagle Valley Middle School. His children are both graduates of Eagle County School District and he hopes to ensure that every child in our community receives the very best education that we can offer them, much like they did. He also sees the continued need to make forward strides in our housing efforts. While enjoying his retirement, Harry likes to keep busy attending many community events, traveling, and riding his bike.

Juan Peña serves as director of District E and wins the unofficial contest for the longest Eagle County residency. He’s been here for 48 years and is a 1991 graduate of Battle Mountain High School. Juan has also seen two of his children through our school system and has a third making their way now. As a fleet manager at Beaver Creek, we like to say Juan keeps things moving. His focus, commitment, and top priority is to do the best he can for the children of our community.

Last but not least, Gretchen Hovey is our newest member of the board and serves as director of District F. Gretchen currently is a consultant working to improve food systems by connecting local farms to outlets to provide locally sourced food for underserved populations. She’s a parent at Edwards Elementary and deeply values the dual-language program and its impact on education.

With a background in small business ownership Gretchen believes in the transformative power of public education and the importance of equitable access for all children and focuses on seeing the big picture and serving our district effectively. When she isn’t participating in board business, you can find her outside with her husband and daughter along with their dog enjoying the many things our valley has to offer.

Our board of education meets once or twice each month in the boardroom at Red Canyon High School in Gypsum. They spend countless additional hours outside of these meetings preparing to be engaged participants ready to make important decisions. At each meeting, we provide the public an opportunity to share comments on any topic they’d like. So whether you’d like to come share a thought of appreciation for our board or others in our district, or voice any potential concerns you may have please visit our website at eagleschools.net/boe to find the dates and times of upcoming meetings.  

Thank you again to not only our seven current board members but the many who have served before and the countless others who serve across our country in similar roles. I appreciate you all.

Philip Qualman is the superintendent of Eagle County School District. Email him at philip.qualman@eagleschools.net.


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