Click on the link below to read a lette to the editor regarding the upcoming school bond.
The writer has some good questions.
missoulschoolwatchdog: Vote against the bond - this is not in the best interests of our community!
Missoula County Public Schools: Proposals prompt many questions
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
MCPS approves ballot language for bonds Missoulian article from the September 23, 2015 edition
Click on the link below to read a Missoulian article on the school bonds.
MCPS approves ballot language for bonds
missoulaschoolwatchdog does not recommend voting for this bond (understatement)!
MCPS approves ballot language for bonds
missoulaschoolwatchdog does not recommend voting for this bond (understatement)!
Monday, September 21, 2015
Chairman of the Board of Regents makes the most money of any public official in Montana!
Even though the following is not about Missoula's schools, specifically, I thought I'd include it on my blog.
The above is a screenshot of the MSN posting for Montana taken on September 21, 2015.
This morning I was logged on to MSN and I clicked on a link to an article reporting on the highest paid public official for all 50 states. For most states it was a college football or basketball coach. I knew that it most likely was not a coach for Montana's highest paid public official.
The article had a picture display of each state's highest paid public official. As I was following to some degree the news regarding the salary of Clay Christian when he was appointed Commissioner of Higher Education I thought that this might be the guy with Montana's largest public employee salary. And it was!
His salary is $351,000. per year.
While the discussion of Christian's compensation was in the news many people spoke up on the blogs and weren't happy about this high salary. And now we see that it is the highest in the state! (Perhaps this was reported at the time, however, I did not read that it was the highest at the time.)
 |
| Clay Christian is the highest paid public employee in Montana |
The above is a screenshot of the MSN posting for Montana taken on September 21, 2015.
This morning I was logged on to MSN and I clicked on a link to an article reporting on the highest paid public official for all 50 states. For most states it was a college football or basketball coach. I knew that it most likely was not a coach for Montana's highest paid public official.
The article had a picture display of each state's highest paid public official. As I was following to some degree the news regarding the salary of Clay Christian when he was appointed Commissioner of Higher Education I thought that this might be the guy with Montana's largest public employee salary. And it was!
His salary is $351,000. per year.
While the discussion of Christian's compensation was in the news many people spoke up on the blogs and weren't happy about this high salary. And now we see that it is the highest in the state! (Perhaps this was reported at the time, however, I did not read that it was the highest at the time.)
Friday, September 11, 2015
Don Tomlinson: Thanks for honoring 'unsung hero' - a Missoula County High School graduate!
Click on the link below to read a letter by the Tomlinson Family regarding an article on Don and his bravery in WWII.
Don Tomlinson: Thanks for honoring 'unsung hero'
missoula school watchdog salutes Don Tomlinson, a Missoula County High School graduate for his service to our country.
Don Tomlinson: Thanks for honoring 'unsung hero'
missoula school watchdog salutes Don Tomlinson, a Missoula County High School graduate for his service to our country.
Missouilan September 8th, 2015, article on the Foster Grandparent Program
Click on the link below to read a Missoulian article on the Foster Grandparent Program.
50 years young: Foster Grandparent program looks back on decades of success
missoula school watchdog is of the opinion that the Foster Grandparent program is a wonderful program for our school children. A foster grandparent helped out with a son's reading many years ago. This was really appreciated by myself, my son, and the teacher. There are many true winners here!
50 years young: Foster Grandparent program looks back on decades of success
missoula school watchdog is of the opinion that the Foster Grandparent program is a wonderful program for our school children. A foster grandparent helped out with a son's reading many years ago. This was really appreciated by myself, my son, and the teacher. There are many true winners here!
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
UPDATED: MCPS considers 4 sites for new Cold Springs school - MIssoulian article from August 31, 2015
Click on the link below to read an article on new locations for Cold Springs School.
UPDATED: MCPS considers 4 sites for new Cold Springs school
UPDATED: MCPS considers 4 sites for new Cold Springs school
missoula school watchdog blog is calling foul on this ill-thought out idea by illogical school officials.
The idea that this school district will close Cold Springs and build a new school with the same name is absolutely criminal!
As a long-time observer of MCPS business and a victim of the 2004 school closures, it is my opinion that this corrupt idea of closing Cold Springs and building a new school in the Miller Creek area is the brainstorm of a long-time unpopular MCPS Trustee, Drake Lemm and other cronies such as Rosemary Harrison. At a September 2005(!) Finance and Operations Facility Meeting - with the ink barely dry on the Roosevelt School sale to St. Josephs School papers - Lemm brought up the closing of Cold Springs and the building of a new school close to his properties. (Note: Lemm built a subdivision in the Miller Creek area.)
Hellgate High School celebrates new finance academy on Thursday - Missoulian article from the September 8, 2015 issue
Click on the link below to read about a September 8th, 2015, Missoulian article about the Financial Academy getting started at Helllgate High School.
Hellgate High School celebrates new finance academy on Thursday
Hellgate High School celebrates new finance academy on Thursday
Capital offense, with all due respect, by the Missoulian - no mention of the cost - how it has been funded so far and how it will be funded in the future! More comment in the near future by msw.
Monday, September 7, 2015
School bond: Crucial first step or hasty misstep? - Helena School District bond newspaper article Helena later defeats school bond! Missoula needs to do the same as bond fails to address MCPS needs!
Click on the link below to read a Helena Independent article.
School bond: Crucial first step or hasty misstep?
School bond: Crucial first step or hasty misstep?
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Vote for school bonds, invest in future September 3, 2015 Missoulian Guest Editorial by Mark Thane
Click on the link below to read Missoula County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Thane's Guest Column in September 3, 2015 Missoulian newspaper.
Vote for school bonds, invest in future
Response to Mark Thane's editorial:
The bond that is going to be going before the Missoula voters to support Missoula School District 1 schools this November (mail in ballot) is not in the best interests of our students or our community in general.
Despite former Superintendent Apostle's statement that the MCPS school district will let the community know what is included in this bond we citizens are really in the dark about what is being planned by the bond committee. There is very little coverage in the Missoulian or elsewhere on what is being planned for each school. And the vote is coming up very soon.
The lives of many families were turned upside down in 2004 by the school closures in the northeast section of our city. Because of school closure experience and following the district by attending meetings for many years I found that this district is not an upstanding, honest, responsible, accountable school district. This school district operates on a "let the citizens know as little as possible and make drastic decisions as quickly as possible" philosophy. This is so that there is little time for citizens to study what is being proposed and to react in an informed manner.
The last three superintendents were hired, most likely, for their position on decisions to be made by the power structure on the school board. What the "majority" Trustees wished for our school district, tragically, was multiple school closures. These Trustees governed against the will of the people, who for the most part wished to keep their prized and irreplaceable neighborhood school. In the late 1990's the district hired Mary Vagner, who was behind the closure of Roosevelt School. Vagner also was behind the closure of Prescott School (which was reopened). Vagner was also behind the lease of Roosevelt School to a private school, St. Josephs School, a Catholic elementary school. (Did Vagner share the same religion as the private school as some say she did - this needs some review).
Next, came Superintendent Jim Clark in 2003. Jim Clark governed in a sneaky fashion as suggested above - quickly allowing little public awareness of his plans. In fact, I call his 6 years at MCPS as the "Dark Clark" years as his decisions have affected our city in many tragic and "dark" ways. Under the leadership of Superintendent Clark three (!) of our northeast schools were closed in a 48 day period. These schools were Rattlesnake Middle School and Prescott School in the Rattlesnake Valley and Mt. Jumbo School in East Missoula. These school closures have wreaked havoc in our community and have impacted our finances more than we know. Many East Missoula families are sending their children to Bonner(each of these children are "worth" approximately $5,000.
Superintendent Clark not only severely damaged our network of neighborhood schools as he acted astonishingly brazen and disloyally. Clark recommended the sale of Roosevelt School to the Catholic School system which took place in 2005. Clark continued acting in a disloyal fashion by recommending the lease of Prescott School to another private school, Missoula International School. This lease as with the Roosevelt School lease, began with a five year term (and was extended later for 3 years and 5 years!). As per information given by a math professor, this lease is costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars per year! Can you imagine the loss of state funding based on enrollment when Missoula International School's enrollment has mushroomed from 33 students in 2004 to 200 students in recent years? For more info one can go to www.prescottschoolmissoula.blogspot. Not a perfect website but a start in sharing information on this issue.
Next, in 2008, the district hired Superintendent Alex Apostle, who continued the disloyal leadership of promoting the lease of Prescott School to Missoula International School. I believe that one of the main reasons Apostle was hired was to assist in the continuation of this lease. Apostle presided over the two lease extensions of 3 years and then 5 years. This lease will expire in 2017 and must not be extended. To do so would to continue the erosion of funds to MCPS and to continue the problems in this neighborhood by denying the children a neighborhood school (since 1892!). The overcrowding of Rattlesnake School is a major reason to reopen Prescott, however, so far the district has placed the needs of MIS above the students of MCPS.
Superintendent Thane, hired this year, unfortunately, even though he is from Missoula, is continuing in the same vein as his three predecessors. Thane is recommending the continuation of the lease of Prescott School to Missoula International School thus continuing the dramatic loss of funds to our district. He is also recommending, by virtue of promoting this bond the further "deschooling" of our Missoula neighborhoods. This "deschooling"of our neighborhoods, thus taking away the "heart of the neighborhood is having huge detrimental affects to our neighborhoods.
We need to reverse the trend of "deschooling" our neighborhoods by reopening the closed schools. Our children need to come before adults(Dickinson School), private schools (Prescott and Roosevelt School(we can set aside money for buying back Roosevelt as we have right of first refusal), college students(Mt. Jumbo), and programs(Jefferson and Whittier). We can reopen these schools (and even share some space with the programs) before we build a new school in the Miller Creek area.
Please vote against the school bond both on the elementary and secondary levels. A vote for the bond, with all due respect, is not in the best interests of our children.
In closing, I would like to recommend a report which supports our smaller neighborhood schools which have served generations of our Missoula children titled, "Dollars and Sense. The Cost Effectiveness of Small Schools".
Thank you for reading my long comment, however, it is important, in my opinion, to hear the other side of this issue that is brought forward by Superintendent Mark Thane and others.
Vote for school bonds, invest in future
Response to Mark Thane's editorial:
The bond that is going to be going before the Missoula voters to support Missoula School District 1 schools this November (mail in ballot) is not in the best interests of our students or our community in general.
Despite former Superintendent Apostle's statement that the MCPS school district will let the community know what is included in this bond we citizens are really in the dark about what is being planned by the bond committee. There is very little coverage in the Missoulian or elsewhere on what is being planned for each school. And the vote is coming up very soon.
The lives of many families were turned upside down in 2004 by the school closures in the northeast section of our city. Because of school closure experience and following the district by attending meetings for many years I found that this district is not an upstanding, honest, responsible, accountable school district. This school district operates on a "let the citizens know as little as possible and make drastic decisions as quickly as possible" philosophy. This is so that there is little time for citizens to study what is being proposed and to react in an informed manner.
The last three superintendents were hired, most likely, for their position on decisions to be made by the power structure on the school board. What the "majority" Trustees wished for our school district, tragically, was multiple school closures. These Trustees governed against the will of the people, who for the most part wished to keep their prized and irreplaceable neighborhood school. In the late 1990's the district hired Mary Vagner, who was behind the closure of Roosevelt School. Vagner also was behind the closure of Prescott School (which was reopened). Vagner was also behind the lease of Roosevelt School to a private school, St. Josephs School, a Catholic elementary school. (Did Vagner share the same religion as the private school as some say she did - this needs some review).
Next, came Superintendent Jim Clark in 2003. Jim Clark governed in a sneaky fashion as suggested above - quickly allowing little public awareness of his plans. In fact, I call his 6 years at MCPS as the "Dark Clark" years as his decisions have affected our city in many tragic and "dark" ways. Under the leadership of Superintendent Clark three (!) of our northeast schools were closed in a 48 day period. These schools were Rattlesnake Middle School and Prescott School in the Rattlesnake Valley and Mt. Jumbo School in East Missoula. These school closures have wreaked havoc in our community and have impacted our finances more than we know. Many East Missoula families are sending their children to Bonner(each of these children are "worth" approximately $5,000.
Superintendent Clark not only severely damaged our network of neighborhood schools as he acted astonishingly brazen and disloyally. Clark recommended the sale of Roosevelt School to the Catholic School system which took place in 2005. Clark continued acting in a disloyal fashion by recommending the lease of Prescott School to another private school, Missoula International School. This lease as with the Roosevelt School lease, began with a five year term (and was extended later for 3 years and 5 years!). As per information given by a math professor, this lease is costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars per year! Can you imagine the loss of state funding based on enrollment when Missoula International School's enrollment has mushroomed from 33 students in 2004 to 200 students in recent years? For more info one can go to www.prescottschoolmissoula.blogspot. Not a perfect website but a start in sharing information on this issue.
Next, in 2008, the district hired Superintendent Alex Apostle, who continued the disloyal leadership of promoting the lease of Prescott School to Missoula International School. I believe that one of the main reasons Apostle was hired was to assist in the continuation of this lease. Apostle presided over the two lease extensions of 3 years and then 5 years. This lease will expire in 2017 and must not be extended. To do so would to continue the erosion of funds to MCPS and to continue the problems in this neighborhood by denying the children a neighborhood school (since 1892!). The overcrowding of Rattlesnake School is a major reason to reopen Prescott, however, so far the district has placed the needs of MIS above the students of MCPS.
Superintendent Thane, hired this year, unfortunately, even though he is from Missoula, is continuing in the same vein as his three predecessors. Thane is recommending the continuation of the lease of Prescott School to Missoula International School thus continuing the dramatic loss of funds to our district. He is also recommending, by virtue of promoting this bond the further "deschooling" of our Missoula neighborhoods. This "deschooling"of our neighborhoods, thus taking away the "heart of the neighborhood is having huge detrimental affects to our neighborhoods.
We need to reverse the trend of "deschooling" our neighborhoods by reopening the closed schools. Our children need to come before adults(Dickinson School), private schools (Prescott and Roosevelt School(we can set aside money for buying back Roosevelt as we have right of first refusal), college students(Mt. Jumbo), and programs(Jefferson and Whittier). We can reopen these schools (and even share some space with the programs) before we build a new school in the Miller Creek area.
Please vote against the school bond both on the elementary and secondary levels. A vote for the bond, with all due respect, is not in the best interests of our children.
In closing, I would like to recommend a report which supports our smaller neighborhood schools which have served generations of our Missoula children titled, "Dollars and Sense. The Cost Effectiveness of Small Schools".
Thank you for reading my long comment, however, it is important, in my opinion, to hear the other side of this issue that is brought forward by Superintendent Mark Thane and others.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Missoula County Public Schools: Vote for bond, invest in students
Click on the link below to read a letter to the editor regarding the upcoming bond.
missoulaschoolwatchdog is advocating for citizens to vote against both school bonds - the elementary and the secondary.
Missoula County Public Schools: Vote for bond, invest in students
missoulaschoolwatchdog is advocating for citizens to vote against both school bonds - the elementary and the secondary.
Missoula County Public Schools: Vote for bond, invest in students
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