Enrollment rises in Missoula K-8 classrooms as baby boomers' grandkids grow up

It is Prescott School Missoula's belief that this is one of the most important posts on this blog as it reveals blatant incompetence by extending the Prescott School/MIS lease in 2011in light of Dr. Swanson's demographic work which was available to all district officials.

Click on the link below to read a Missoulian article reporting on the increase in enrollment for MCPS elementary and middle school students, or in good old fashioned lingo - grade school students.

Enrollment rises in Missoula K-8 classrooms as baby boomers' grand kids grow up

Below are some quotes from the article -

"Missoula economist Larry Swanson was on target when he drafted enrollment projections for Missoula County Public Schools in 2009.  Back then, the data about who lives in Missoula and the age of its residents told him the school district’s lower grades would experience an enrollment surge in the years to come, while high schools would decrease."

and -

"grandchildren of the baby boomer generation are behind the upswell, and why MCPS student enrollment numbers are pushing 8,600-plus and closing in on the all-time high enrollment of 10,000-plus in the eac----"

and -

"At Rattlesnake Elementary, it means significant “student management issues,” said Principal Jerry Seidensticker."

and -

“Last year, we jumped up by about 40 students and this year by about 50 students,” Seidensticker said. “With 440 kids, we’ve had to adjust things in the lunchroom and in scheduling recess.
“Managing the number of students in those common areas and in the halls becomes a challenge when you add in the big increase in students.”"

and -

""So far, the strategy to pair up the kindergarten class with the third-graders during lunchtime is working.
“If we did the kindergartners with the first-graders, I don’t know where we would put them all...”"

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Prescott School Missoula comments below are in blue writing -

Click on the link at the top of the home page of this blog to read Dr. Swanson's demographic report presented to the district in approximately 2009 (psm needs to check on the exact year the report was completed.)
 
As Dr. Larry Swanson has worked with the district for the last
decade, which includes work he did for free for many years, this increase is no surprise to Prescott School Missoula.














In fact, BEFORE the approval of the lease extension of Prescott School to Missoula International School Prescott School Missoula mentioned many, many times during a public comment period or in letters to the trustees referencing Swanson's work that the school enrollment will increase due to the echo echo boomers ready to enroll in our schools. 
 


Dr. Swanson's demographic information WAS PROVIDED TO THE DISTRICT for many years and most especially after Swanson's report was presented to the district in 2009.

During the public comment period at the July 2011 Board Meeting, Prescott School Missoula mentioned the report in addition to showing a page from Swanson's report with a chart showing a large spike in enrollment, including the years for which Missoula International School would be leasing Prescott School (until 2017) if the lease was to be extended.


















Additonaly a long-term lease arrangement does not allow flexibility for the district, which as we have found MCPS needed only months after the lease extension  of Prescott School to Missoula International School as revealed by the building of the modular at Rattlesnake School.





Actually, principal Seidensticker has had to deal with over crowding at Rattlesnake School for the last three years which Prescott School Missoula learned at a meeting at Rattlesnake School this spring. 


All of this information was available to the trustees before the lease extension.

Not one trustee heeded this important demographic information when discussing the lease extension!

Why did trustees extend the lease for an additional 5 years? 

Can one say incompetence?  Can one say disloyalty? Can one say unqualified? 

Missoula County Public Schools, as one can deduce from reading this information provided on this and other posts needs new leadership for the good of Rattlesnake Valley residents, northside residents and all residents of Missoula. 

Our children deserve it. Missoula families deserve it. Missoula taxpayers deserve it.