Lower Rattlesnake children being forced to bus to Rattlesnake School while neighborhood peers are attending a private school (Missoula International School) in the Prescott School building!!

IS THIS FAIR??

This morning Prescott School Missoula was driving in the lower Rattlesnake neighborhood and witnessed one of the most egregious sights brought on by one of the most corrupt school boards in the nation.

At two intersections in the lower Rattlesnake stood children waiting for a bus to take them to school. 

One of these bus stops was at the corner of Elm and Harrrison Streets, the sight of Prescott School in Missoula!!

The other bus stop was at the corner of Locust and Taylor Streets just a couple of blocks from Prescott School.

psm also saw while driving in this neighborhood a child from the lower Rattlesnake walking.  I wondered it this child would go to wait for the bus to take her/him to Rattlesnake School with the others.  No. This child walked into Prescott School which is now leased by Missoula International School. 

So, because children's families choose not to pay the $5,000 per year tuition to attend MIS, thus their neighborhood school, due to  spending the money elsewhere in the family budget OR because they did not wish to enroll in an International Baccalaureate Program School, which MIS is, their children cannot attend their neighborhood school.

Prescott School has served the Rattlesnake children since 1892 - however, due to some very disloyal Trustees on the Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees these children are now locked out of attending their neighborhood school - their birthright as Missoulians. 

Prescott School was paid for by Missoula taxpayers - both the building of the school and the maintenance and repairs for more than a century to house public school children - NOT PRIVATE SCHOOL CHILDREN!!

Disloyal Trustees voted to lease Prescott School to Missoula International School in 2004 (see post regarding the sweetheart lease deal) and voted for at lease extension of three years in 2009 and a five year lease extension in 2011, bringing the lease to 2017!!

psm's heart breaks every time it sees Prescott School being used by the competition and neighborhood children being thrown under the bus and not able to attend one of the most wonderful public schools in Missoula.

By the way, this same phenomenon is going on in the neighborhood of Roosevelt School.  Many of the same disloyal Trustees voted for the lease and sale of Roosevelt School to the competing St. Joseph's School.  Both of these leases are costing the district millions of dollars for many reasons discussed in other posts on this blog.