2014 MCPS School Board Trustee Elections

There are three seats up for election on the Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees on May 6, 2014. Two seats are K-12 and represent both the Elementary and High School Districts and one seat represents the Swan Valley, Seeley Lake, Potomac, Sunset and Clinton areas on the High School Board (and votes only on high school issues). The following individuals have filed to run for the open seats in the May 6 election.

School Board - Trustee Elections

 

High School District (Swan Valley, Seeley Lake, Potomac, Sunset, Clinton)

§ Debbie Dupree, P.O. Box 88, Seeley Lake, MT 59868

§ Frank Gruden, 15510 Kendall Creek Road, Clinton, MT 59825

§ Roy Handley, 19770 Schwartz Creek Road, Clinton, MT 59825

Elementary K-12

§ John Fletcher, 655 Evans Ave., Missoula, MT 59801

§ Rob Gibbons, 437 Connell Ave., Missoula, MT 59801

§ Heidi Kendall, 4021 Heritage Way, MT 59802

§ Jennifer Newbold, 3228 Cummins Way, Missoula, MT 59802

§ Molly Stockdale, 2519 Blackthorn Drive, Missoula, MT 59803

§ Scott Todd, 119 Mount Ave., Missoula, NT 59801

§ Jack Wade, 1805 Traynor Dr., Missoula, MT 59802

§ Shelly Wills, 3032 Queen Street, Missoula, MT 59801

Prescott School Missoula does not know most of the candidates that have filed to run for a seat on the MCPS Board of Trustees. psm has lost faith in the school board election process for many reasons. Here are a few:

-There is only slightly more than a month to get to know the names of the candidates and to familiarize oneself for which position they are running... i.e. a one year term, a three year term, elementary/high school or just high school, etc.

-There is no contact information in the Missoulian newspaper and just an address on the MCPS district website.

-There is not enough time to to contact the candidates to see where they stand on the issues and to state your concerns.

-Very few people vote in the school board elections, therefore, it is easier to get a candidate elected which may be unpopular. For instance, if the teachers union endorses a candidate this person has an advantage, whether or not he/she is liked by the majority of the public.  School Board elections need to take place in November along with other issues and positions.

Prescott School Missoula, therefore, cannot endorse any of the candidates.

However, psm would FOR SURE NOT like the two candidates  below on the Board as they have NOT been Prescott friendly in their past terms-

 

Shelly Wills - not a loyal MCPS trustee - voted for the last lease

Scott Todd - an administrative plant

 

NOT SURE ON THE FOLLOWING TWO CANDIDATES:

 

Jennifer Newbold - a Toni Rehbein plant - just learned this from a Missoulian blogger - husband works for ALPS (Toni Rehbein's husband works (worked?) for ALPS - (needs to be verified)

 

And it seemed that candidate Heidi Kendall did not listen to her constituents as closely as she needed on the infill issue when she served on the City Council. Infill may be good for some areas of the city, however, some citizens have had bad experiences with this planning tool.

Kendall's face book page shows that Tom Orr (ugh!) is endorsing her. Orr is a Prescott School foe as he denigrated Prescott many times while on the MCPS Board when he served a few years ago. Does this shed any negative light on the way Kendall would serve on the MCPS Board?  Would she listen to her constituents? Hard to tell at this point in time.

Another reason to question if Kendall would support neighborhood schools, i.e. Prescott School (keep in mind that psm has not visited with Kendall on the Prescott School/MIS lease) is that in 2005 Kendall and other representatives from three private schools spoke in favor of a combined middle school in Prescott. This fact does not go in Kendall's favor as far as Prescott School is concerned (or any public school for that matter).

Voting information from www.mcps.mt.org (The Missoula County Public Schools website)

5-3-14
edited 5-12-14