missoula schools watchdog is an advocate for neighborhood schools, district transparency and accountability, a basic education (the three R's), and a K-8 grade school configuration. missoula schools watchdog does not advocate closing or selling our schools, unnecessary busing, public schools helping private schools such as Missoula International School, irresponsible spending, and unnecessary and expensive programs such as the IB program. Now go to www.missoulaschoolwatchdog.blogspot.com
Friday, November 30, 2012
Sentinel High cross-country team surprises senior with letterman jacket, 'Most Inspirational' award - Missoulian article from the November 19th, 2012 edition
Click on the link below to read a Missoulian article published on November 19th, 2012 written bty Betsy Cohen reporting on an inspirational story about some Sentinel High School students.
Sentinel High cross-country team surprises senior with letterman jacket, 'Most Inspirational' award
Good job boys! You make Sentinel look good - Keep up the good work and may more of your classmates do similar things.
Hellgate students decorate graffiti mural with anti-meth message -Missoulian article on November 30th, 2012
Click on the link below to read a Missoulian article written by Gwen Florio published in the November 30th, 2012 edition reporting on an anti-meth art project at Hellgate High School.
Hellgate students decorate graffiti mural with anti-meth message
The subtitle reads, "Graffiti artist, students create mural to educate others about the dangers of meth use'
This artwork joins the artwork done by a previous generation that is displayed on a wall at Hellgate. Some teachers A few years ago were rummaging in a not-so-used area (msw forgot where) and found many pieces of art created by students in the 1940's. These pictures were framed and are now displayed. The historical aspect of the pictures is amazing.
So, too, will this latest piece of artwork become historical at a certain point in time.
When discussing Hellgate High School with my sister-in-law, a Hellgate alum from the 60's, she said she was disappointed that many of the murals which students had previously painted in the halls had been painted over.
Student artwork becomes more valuable with time - (as do our neighborhood schools - msw had to insert this!) - therefore, if school officials decide to remove it, it would behoove them to somehow save the artwork. It is my understanding that a mural can be saved, however, I'm not sure about this.
Hellgate students decorate graffiti mural with anti-meth message
The subtitle reads, "Graffiti artist, students create mural to educate others about the dangers of meth use'
This artwork joins the artwork done by a previous generation that is displayed on a wall at Hellgate. Some teachers A few years ago were rummaging in a not-so-used area (msw forgot where) and found many pieces of art created by students in the 1940's. These pictures were framed and are now displayed. The historical aspect of the pictures is amazing.
So, too, will this latest piece of artwork become historical at a certain point in time.
When discussing Hellgate High School with my sister-in-law, a Hellgate alum from the 60's, she said she was disappointed that many of the murals which students had previously painted in the halls had been painted over.
Student artwork becomes more valuable with time - (as do our neighborhood schools - msw had to insert this!) - therefore, if school officials decide to remove it, it would behoove them to somehow save the artwork. It is my understanding that a mural can be saved, however, I'm not sure about this.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Big Sky High students craft skis, snowboards; raffle planned - Missoulian article on November 29th, 2012
Click on link below for a November 29th, 2012, Missoulian article on what is happening in shop class at Big Sky High School.
The subtitle for the article reads, "Big Sky shop class crafts snowboards, skis. The article is written by Betsy Cohen, the reporter recently assigned to report on Missoula area school news.
Big Sky High students craft skis, snowboards; raffle planned
missoula schools watchdog is a proponent of shop class in our middle schools and in our high schools as well.
There seems to be lack in this area in MCPS schools in the younger grades.
Yes, it's nice for girls to learn about areas of a shop curriculum and for boys to learn about cooking.
However, it seemed to be beneficial to divide the girls and boys into home ec and shop classes respectively as was done for decades.
The subtitle for the article reads, "Big Sky shop class crafts snowboards, skis. The article is written by Betsy Cohen, the reporter recently assigned to report on Missoula area school news.
Big Sky High students craft skis, snowboards; raffle planned
missoula schools watchdog is a proponent of shop class in our middle schools and in our high schools as well.
There seems to be lack in this area in MCPS schools in the younger grades.
Yes, it's nice for girls to learn about areas of a shop curriculum and for boys to learn about cooking.
However, it seemed to be beneficial to divide the girls and boys into home ec and shop classes respectively as was done for decades.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Big Sky High thrift store holding 'Black Week' sale - Missoulian article from November 26th, 2012
Click below to read about a Missoulian article written by Betsy Cohen and published on November 26th, 2012 reporting on students at Big Sky High School. The subtitle of the article is, "Students holding a 'Black Week' of discounted merchandise."
Big Sky High thrift store holding 'Black Week' sale
Big Sky High thrift store holding 'Black Week' sale
Sunday, November 25, 2012
NO MORE SCHOOL CLOSURES OR SALES OFOUR PRICELESS NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS
Our family, living in the Rattlesnake Valley, suffered an injustice in 2004. Just as our third child was planning to attend Rattlesnake Middle School, as did his siblings in past years, in addition to finally being able to walk just a couple of blocks to this school, MCPS TRUSTEES PULLED THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER US!
This school closure scheme was foisted on Rattlesnake families on February 5, 2004. Just 48 days later, including the weekends which makes it even a shorter time span, on the evening and early morning hours of March 24th and the 25th of 2004, the MCPS school board voted (4-3) to close not only Rattlesnake Middle School, but also Prescott School, a school which had been closed and reopened a couple of times, and Mount Jumbo School in East Missoula.
Northeast Missoula families' hearts were broken into a million pieces.
As a family that has experienced a school closure and the threat of school closures, which can be almost as stressful to a family, msw (missoula schools watchdog) is warning both trustees, administrators, and citizens of Missoula, a school closure is NOT the answer to a school district's financial, social, educational, neighborhood, facility maintenance issues, enrollment issues, or any other problem or excuses that trustees will use to close or sell a school.
The 2004 school closures have cost the district millions of dollars over the last 8 years. In future posts msw will attempt to outline some of these costs.
The ongoing closure costs will NEVER be brought up by Trustees, as they were the cause of them. These costs will NEVER be paid by the people that caused the district the financial problems to the district. In other words, Trustees will NEVER be held accountable for the negative results stemming from their votes to close a school.
Have you ever heard of a trustee being charged for a modular that was built as a result of his/her shortsighted decisions? NO!
Please, Missoulians, FIGHT to keep our priceless neighborhood schools. Say NO to any more school closures. Say NO to any more school sales. Say NO to building new schools at this time. Say NO to favoritism for private schools.
Say YES to our neighborhood schools. Say YES to re-opening our closed schools. Vote for trustees that will value our neighborhood schools. Not the Trustees that are in power at this time.
This school closure scheme was foisted on Rattlesnake families on February 5, 2004. Just 48 days later, including the weekends which makes it even a shorter time span, on the evening and early morning hours of March 24th and the 25th of 2004, the MCPS school board voted (4-3) to close not only Rattlesnake Middle School, but also Prescott School, a school which had been closed and reopened a couple of times, and Mount Jumbo School in East Missoula.
Northeast Missoula families' hearts were broken into a million pieces.
As a family that has experienced a school closure and the threat of school closures, which can be almost as stressful to a family, msw (missoula schools watchdog) is warning both trustees, administrators, and citizens of Missoula, a school closure is NOT the answer to a school district's financial, social, educational, neighborhood, facility maintenance issues, enrollment issues, or any other problem or excuses that trustees will use to close or sell a school.
The 2004 school closures have cost the district millions of dollars over the last 8 years. In future posts msw will attempt to outline some of these costs.
The ongoing closure costs will NEVER be brought up by Trustees, as they were the cause of them. These costs will NEVER be paid by the people that caused the district the financial problems to the district. In other words, Trustees will NEVER be held accountable for the negative results stemming from their votes to close a school.
Have you ever heard of a trustee being charged for a modular that was built as a result of his/her shortsighted decisions? NO!
Please, Missoulians, FIGHT to keep our priceless neighborhood schools. Say NO to any more school closures. Say NO to any more school sales. Say NO to building new schools at this time. Say NO to favoritism for private schools.
Say YES to our neighborhood schools. Say YES to re-opening our closed schools. Vote for trustees that will value our neighborhood schools. Not the Trustees that are in power at this time.
Native American students thriving in Missoula County Public Schools - Missoulian article from November 25th, 2012
Click on link below to read a Missoulian article written by Betsy Cohen and published on November 25th, 2012 reporting on Native American students in Missoula schools.
Native American students thriving in Missoula County Public Schools
In most articles reporting on Missoula County Public Schools the Missoulian is not including the cost of the programs and where the funding for each of the programs is coming from.
As a family that has been negatively effected by school closures, this is important to us. During the school closures, the trustees are always pitting programs against school buildings.
The public needs to know the financial picture of each program before the program is implemented in addition to the ongoing costs. The district ALSO needs to know this.
This information needs to be available on the district website.
I have asked for information on the costs of the International Baccalaureate program. I have been given some of the preliminary costs, however it is time consuming to have to ask every month or so. For this reason I have also requested that the finances for this program be placed on the district website. The superintendent stated that this could not be done - so much for the transparency he talked about on a radio program.
I am not saying I am against this program. Although I am steadfastly against the IB program. What I'm saying is the taxpayers and citizens deserve to know what they are paying for; how OUR money is being spent.
Please, Betsy Cohen, follow up on a report on the costs of this program, from where the funding is coming, in addition to the costs of the IB program and from where that funding is coming. I and others would like to know.
Later: Responding to a comment on the Missoulian comment section after the article stating that the Montana constitution requires that schools add Native American studies to their curriculum - yes, it is in the Montana constitution which was re-written in 1972. It would still be nice to know how much this program is costing the taxpayers. Transparency is key when spending citizen's money.
Native American students thriving in Missoula County Public Schools
In most articles reporting on Missoula County Public Schools the Missoulian is not including the cost of the programs and where the funding for each of the programs is coming from.
As a family that has been negatively effected by school closures, this is important to us. During the school closures, the trustees are always pitting programs against school buildings.
The public needs to know the financial picture of each program before the program is implemented in addition to the ongoing costs. The district ALSO needs to know this.
This information needs to be available on the district website.
I have asked for information on the costs of the International Baccalaureate program. I have been given some of the preliminary costs, however it is time consuming to have to ask every month or so. For this reason I have also requested that the finances for this program be placed on the district website. The superintendent stated that this could not be done - so much for the transparency he talked about on a radio program.
I am not saying I am against this program. Although I am steadfastly against the IB program. What I'm saying is the taxpayers and citizens deserve to know what they are paying for; how OUR money is being spent.
Please, Betsy Cohen, follow up on a report on the costs of this program, from where the funding is coming, in addition to the costs of the IB program and from where that funding is coming. I and others would like to know.
Later: Responding to a comment on the Missoulian comment section after the article stating that the Montana constitution requires that schools add Native American studies to their curriculum - yes, it is in the Montana constitution which was re-written in 1972. It would still be nice to know how much this program is costing the taxpayers. Transparency is key when spending citizen's money.
Monday, November 12, 2012
MCPS taxpayers to reap savings of more than $500K - Missoulian article on November 12, 2012
Click on the link to read about a Missoulian article written by Betsy Cohen published on November 12th, 2012, reporting on the district saving money by refinancing a bond.
MCPS taxpayers to reap savings of more than $500K
A quote from the story, "A savings of more than $500,0000 is en route to district taxpayers, thanks to the watchful eye of Pat McHugh. director of business and operations for Missoula County Public Schools.
Congratulations to Pat McHugh and MCPS.
You have now made up for the $500,000 loss to the district due to the lease of Missoula's public school, Prescott School, to a private school, Missoula International School for one year.
Prior to the MIS/ Prescott School lease extension in 2011, a math professor sent an email to all 11 Trustees and Superintendent Apostle stating that the MCPS school district lost $500,000 in the prior year due to the lease. Business director McHugh and all Trustees and the superintendent did not heed his warnings.
McHugh and other district officials fail to comprehend or they choose to ignore the fact that leasing a public school to the competition, that is a private school such as MIS, is not a viable course of action for the district.
If McHugh had been looking out for the best interests of the public school system rather than the desires of a private school he would have advised against the lease extension.
Not only does a business manager of a school district have a responsibility to obtain good rates on a bond, but he/she also has a responsibility to advise district officials, including trustees and the superintendent, on the fiscal details of facility issues. In all due respect, business director Pat McHugh has reneged on his responsibilities in this area.
Most importantly, Pat McHugh stated at the meeting in July of 2011 when the issue of the MIS/Prescott School lease extension was discussed that the district DID NOT NEED Prescott School.
If that is so, why did the district end up building a modular at Rattlesnake School this summer, less than a year after the lease extension was approved.
Prescott School is located just down the road from Rattlesnake School and could easily have been available if the distsrict had not extended the lease of the school to MIS.
The increase in enrollment will increase in the next several years, therefore, opening Prescott School would have been the responsible course of action. Or does the district intend to build a series of modulars all over the Rattlesnake School playground while a private school profits for the use of our public school?
So, now the Pat McHugh and other district officials need to figure out a way to make up for the approximately $250,000 cost of the Rattlesnake School modular that would not have been needed had the district opened Prescott School.
Additionally, the crowding at Rattlesnake School could have easily been mitigated had the lease been on a one year term. Whenever a school district enters into a lease agreement, the business manager would advise that a lease be on a yearly basis rather than long term. This would be the cautious approach.
The district needs to decide to open Prescott School when the lease expires, which is, unfortunately, in 2017! However, the school district needs to let MIS know that MCPS NEEDS PRESCOTT SCHOOL for its own students and will open it in 2017.
MCPS taxpayers to reap savings of more than $500K
A quote from the story, "A savings of more than $500,0000 is en route to district taxpayers, thanks to the watchful eye of Pat McHugh. director of business and operations for Missoula County Public Schools.
Congratulations to Pat McHugh and MCPS.
You have now made up for the $500,000 loss to the district due to the lease of Missoula's public school, Prescott School, to a private school, Missoula International School for one year.
Prior to the MIS/ Prescott School lease extension in 2011, a math professor sent an email to all 11 Trustees and Superintendent Apostle stating that the MCPS school district lost $500,000 in the prior year due to the lease. Business director McHugh and all Trustees and the superintendent did not heed his warnings.
McHugh and other district officials fail to comprehend or they choose to ignore the fact that leasing a public school to the competition, that is a private school such as MIS, is not a viable course of action for the district.
If McHugh had been looking out for the best interests of the public school system rather than the desires of a private school he would have advised against the lease extension.
Not only does a business manager of a school district have a responsibility to obtain good rates on a bond, but he/she also has a responsibility to advise district officials, including trustees and the superintendent, on the fiscal details of facility issues. In all due respect, business director Pat McHugh has reneged on his responsibilities in this area.
Most importantly, Pat McHugh stated at the meeting in July of 2011 when the issue of the MIS/Prescott School lease extension was discussed that the district DID NOT NEED Prescott School.
If that is so, why did the district end up building a modular at Rattlesnake School this summer, less than a year after the lease extension was approved.
Prescott School is located just down the road from Rattlesnake School and could easily have been available if the distsrict had not extended the lease of the school to MIS.
The increase in enrollment will increase in the next several years, therefore, opening Prescott School would have been the responsible course of action. Or does the district intend to build a series of modulars all over the Rattlesnake School playground while a private school profits for the use of our public school?
So, now the Pat McHugh and other district officials need to figure out a way to make up for the approximately $250,000 cost of the Rattlesnake School modular that would not have been needed had the district opened Prescott School.
Additionally, the crowding at Rattlesnake School could have easily been mitigated had the lease been on a one year term. Whenever a school district enters into a lease agreement, the business manager would advise that a lease be on a yearly basis rather than long term. This would be the cautious approach.
The district needs to decide to open Prescott School when the lease expires, which is, unfortunately, in 2017! However, the school district needs to let MIS know that MCPS NEEDS PRESCOTT SCHOOL for its own students and will open it in 2017.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)