'King Arthur' becomes 'Arturo' in Missoula International School performances- Missoulian article by Kim Briggeman published in the December 14th edition

Click on the link below to read a Missoulian article on a performance by Missoula International Schoool children.

King Arthur' becomes 'Arturo' in Missoula International School performances

Prescott School MIssoula comments -

In 2004 MCPS closed three schools within a 48 day time span. This shortsighted decision has had devastating consequences for not only the north side of our city but throughout the school system of Missoula. The closure Trustees were Trustees Rosemary Harrison, Jenda Hemphill, Naomi Kimbell, and David Merrill. 

A repeat of the closure decision was visited in July of 2004 due to an open meeting lawsuit against the district filed by Allan Oines and Molly Moody. FYI – The only person allowed to speak before the decision was approved was Prescott Principal Cindy Christensen who advocated for closure of her own school!! Thanks Cindy!

The second 2004 closure Trustees were Rosemary Harrison, Jenda Hemphill, Naomi Kimbell, Toni Rehbein, Scott Bixler, and Joe Toth (Rehbein, Bixler, and Toth had been elected in May of 2004).

After closing the three schools, Prescott School was leased in another rushed decision (again in 48 days) for a 5 year term to the private school Missoula International School. In 2009, a lease extension for 3 years was approved and in 2011, another lease extension was approved for 5 years for a total of 13 years. Trustees voting for the lease extension in 2009 were Scott Bixler, Joe Toth, Jenda Hemphill, Nancy Pickhardt, Joseph Knapp, and (not sure on this).  Trustees voting for the lease extension in 2011 were Scott Bixler, Shelly Wills, Michael Smith, and Joseph Knapp.

Citizens, including a math professor, have come forward in meetings and have stated that this lease is costing the district hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the increase in MIS enrollment throughout the years. The professor warned Trustees in 2004 that the lease could hit MCPS hard financially.  Prior to the 2011 lease extension approval the math professor sent an EMAIL TO ALL TRUSTEES AND THE SUPERINTENDENT STATING THAT THE PRESCOTT SCHOOL LEASE TO MISSOULA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL WAS AT THAT TIME COSTING THE DISTRICT $500,000 A YEAR!  Strangely but predictably this information was brushed aside and ignored by district officials

In 2004, MIS enrollment was 33 and in 2011 enrollment had increased to 121 (According to county numbers).. UPDATE – Since the approval of the lease extension in 2011 MIS enrollment has increased by 40 students thus an additional loss of approximately $200,000 (40 x $5,000) which brings the loss to the district in the $700,000 range!  The sweetheart lease rates do NOT make up for this loss. Should not Knapp, Bixler, Wills, and Smith be responsible for this amount?! And should not the other closure/lease/lease extension Trustees also bear the brunt of this loss?!

 If the superintendent and the Board of Trustees do not understand the basic concept that leasing a public school to the competition then in my opinion and I’m quite sure in others as well, MCPS has no business embarking on yet another facilities study.

Unless the district and the steering committee state up front that its first order of business is to terminate the Prescott School/MIS lease, MCPS has NO credibility and all involved should pack up and go home. UPDATE – A citizen at the latest facility meeting requested the district produce a report on this lease. 

By the way, two citizens and the MIS “moochers” along with other “moochers” had to wait 3 and ½ hours to wait to speak during public comment. MCPS really DOES NOT VALUE PUBLIC COMMENT!

Another FYI – Rosemary Harrison and Drake Lemm are on the facility committee! Harrison harmed not only Prescott School, but voted to close AND SELL Roosevelt and I believe voted to close Dickinson – HARRISON IS THE QUEEN OF MISSOULA SCHOOL CLOSURES and Lemm always endorsed the Prescott/MIS lease.

The Prescott School/Missoula International School lease can be considered the epicenter ofschool corruption in Missoula.

Note: Some of the information in this post has already been included in other Prescott School Missoula's blog posts. This post has some summary points embedded within.

 

 

 

 

 

Russell Elementary students portray Lincoln, LeBron, more for 'wax museum'

Below is a link to an article reagarding Russell Elementary School in Missoula.

Quoted in the article is present-day principal Cindy Christensen.

Christensen is the former principal of Prescott School which was closed in 2004 along with two other northeast schools, Rattlesnake Middle School, and Mt. Jumbo School in East Missoula.

The reason Prescott School Missoula is posting this Missoulian artlcle is to point out that after closing Prescott School with the massive negative ramifications, financially, educationally, and societal, life goes on as usual for all the administrators and trutees involved in that devastating school closure decision in 2004. 

Cindy Christensen in her capacity as principal did not support Prescott, in fact, she threw this wonderful lower Rattlesnake School under the bus when she cried before the school board to close Prescott School as it had deminished energy.

There has been no accountability for the negative consequences that resulted from the closures for any of these administrators to this date.

Life goes on as usual for Cindy Christensen; however, Prescott School continues to suffer.






Russell Elementary students portray Lincoln, LeBron, more for 'wax museum'

Check out Missoula Mom blog

Prescott School Missoula found this link, "Missoula Mom" on the Web.   It is a creation of Missoulian employees, Tyler Christensen and Sherry Devlin.

One article mentions Cindy Christensen (relative of Taylor's ?), past principal of Prescott School, and other principals in the Missoula County Public Schools.  The article mentions the turnover for these principals in recent years.

Click on the link below.
missoulamom.com/?tag=principal

The link to the Missoulian article reporting on the principal turnover subject did not work for me, however, perhaps there was a glitch psm did not understand.

Cindy Christensen, former Prescott School principal throws her school under the bus in 2004

On the 23rd of April, 2004, Molly Moody and Allan Oines filed a lawsuit with the Fourth Judicial District Court.

The complaint follows the March 25, 2004, MCPS Board decision to close 3 northeast schools, Rattlesnake Middle School, Prescott School, and Mt. Jumbo School.

On the front page of the lawsuit on the right it states:

"COMPLAINT and PETITION TO SET ASIDE SCHOOL BOARD'S ACTIONS and TO COMPEL THE BOARD TO COMPLY WITH MONTANA'S RIGHT TO KNOW LAWS."

On page 2 and number 12 one will read, "Prior to the vote Chairwoman Harrison did allow one person to comment on the preliminary budget as finally presented to and voted on by the Board prior to the Board's vote.  That person was an acting principal at Prescott Elementary School and therefore an employee of the district."

Another pertinent paragraph (13) from the complaint follows:

"Chairwoman Harrison was asked by members of the public to allow them to comment before the vote was taken. Chairwoman Harrison refused the public's request.  Chairwoman Harrison did not allow any member of the public to comment on the approved preliminary budget UNTIL AFTER the Board had voted to approve the preliminary budget."

One is able to see in the above two paragraphs of the complaint that the process to close the three schools was fraught with corruption.

The complaint does not mention the name of the principal at Prescott School.  The principal in 2004 of Prescott School was Cindy Christensen.

Citizens who are interested in why Prescott School was closed and why it is now leased to Missoula International School would most likely be interested in this information.

It was said that Prescott School principal Cindy Christensen was emotional to the point of crying during her solo public comment calling on the closure of Prescott School. 

Another source of information regarding Cindy Christensen and her comments at the March 25th, 2004 school board meeting and suppporting the above comment is the March 26th, 2004, edition of the Missoulian is a front page article written by reporter Jane Rider , titled, "Prescott, Mount Jumbo closed" (the title actually needed to include Rattlesnake Middle School).

Quotes from the article pertaining to Cindy Christensen follow:

"During the evening, Prescott Principal Cindy Christensen made an emotional plea to the board to move ahead with closing Prescott, where enrollment has declined to just 128 students, expressing how emotionally and educationally difficult the threat of closure has been on the school's staff and students in recent years."

and -

"This is not what's best for kids," Christensen said. She also argued that the school population has shrunk to a size of diminished energy."

Note from Prescott School Missoula -  As psm had a child attending Prescott School during the closures psm can attest that Prescott School was a wonderful school and the fact that enrollment was down did not "diminish the energy" as Christensen states above.
If there was any diminished energy it would have come from the principal herself - as she was not for the school remaining open she would have would not have been a positive influence- in fact - psm had been told she was a negative influence and remained in her office talking on the phone quite a lot of the time (most likely to opponents of Prescott).

Note: The link to the Missoulian article from March 26, 2004, above in which one will be able to read additional information on  the school closures will be up as time permits. psm has had technical difficulties in linking the article to this blog. 

As one can see by the lawsuit material in addition to those from the Missoulian article reporting on the closures one comes away with the reality that Cindy Christensen was a proponent of the closure and went even futher to assist in the closure of not only Prescott, but Rattlesnake Middle School and Mt. Jumbo School. 

It appears that Cindy Christensen, the Prescott principal in 2004 was disloyal to her school by siding with the administration who was calling for the closure of Prescott and the two other schools.

It is not a stretch to conceptualize that Chairwoman of the Board Rosemary Harrison and Prescott principal Cindy Christensen planned in advance of the meeting to allow for Christensen to speak for the school closures even though others were not allowed.

If only Prescott School had had a loyal and steadfast principal that stood by her through thick and thin perhaps the tragedy of the closure could have been averted.

Cindy Christensen did indeed throw Prescott School under the bus. 

At this time Cindy Christensen is the principal of Russell School. Russell School, just won an award. 

Just think, if Christensen would have stood by her school, perhaps it could have been Prescott School that received that award.