MCPS taxpayers to reap savings of more than $500K

Click link below for the link to a Missoulian article regarding the
refinancing of a bond for the MCPS school system by Pat McHugh,
the business director for the school system.

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.

A problem is revealed in the scenario just described.  The business manager is hired every year after the election by the Board.  This creates a "you do this for us" by the school board trustees and we will continue your contract.

In other words, if Pat McHugh came out with his view that the school district is entering into a lease which is not favorable for the district, going against the opinion of the trustees, he could very well lose his job as MCPS.

Another manner of hiring the business director needs to be implemented. Until MCPS figures out an alternative to its hiring practices for this position, he/she will be under the thumb of people like  MCPS Chairwoman Toni Rehbein, the former president of Missoula International School, the school leasing Prescott School.

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