Tomorrow two classes will be held in a modular at Rattlesnake School as Missoula International School students will be beginning classes in a beautiul public school building, Prescott School, located just one mile from Rattlesnake

Another year, the beginning of five in the latest lease extension, in which one of our favorite public schools will be occupied by a private school. 

The public school is Prescott School, located in an idyllic setting in the lower Rattlesnake. This Prescott School is the second at this location.  The first was built in the late 1890's when Missoula was a fledgling new city.  The current school was built in 1950-51 along with Jefferson and Washington. 

Many times these two schools are included with the year of Prescott's construction for a reason - MCPS Trustees cannot vilify it without vilifying the other two buildings.

The private school leasing Prescott School is Missoula International School. If one drives by Prescott at 1100 Harrison St. you will see new playground equipment installed on the south side of the playground. 

One has to ask - why is MIS spending so much money on capital improvements (the playground equipment is brand new so must have cost thousands of dollars). Why is MIS spending so much money remodeling the inside of a leased school?  Does MIS have inside information from disloyal Trustees - Toni Rehbein in particular - a former officer for MIS - that another lease extension will be approved?

As stated in other posts, it is not prudent to allow a lessee to have such leeway in making changes to a leased public school. A lease is essentially a mode to allow the district to make money on a school building while not in use. (See other posts which state we are losing millions of dollars on this lease) When it is again in demand, such as the current school year, the school building is supposed to be move-in ready for public school students.  This is not what is happening at Prescott School.

It is time for MIS to begin the process of finding a new location for their school.

The modular at Rattlesnake School is only a temporary stop-gap measure to deal with the increased enrollment now and in future years.  See post in which is a link to the district's own commissioned demographic study which shows a huge spike in elementary enrollment in the next 5 years with significant numbers in projected enrollment in subsequent years following the spike.

What we have in Missoula is disloyal MCPS School Board Trustees that have given major favors to private schools.

The nightmare continues as we watch our Rattlesnake students walk into the modular classrooms on their first day of school tomorrow on August 26, 2012.

The nightmare continues as we watch St. Joseph's School students walk into our former Roosevelt School as our other neighborhood public schools are packed to the brim.