FLASHBACK - Past MIS officer and former MCPS Trustee Toni Rehbein highlighted in this Missoulian article (includes link)

Note - Prescott School Missoula has to admit that I do not always remember what I have posted. It appears that this topic was already discussed in a prior post ( May 5th 2013)! I do not always read my own blog, however, I think this topiic is worthy of posting twice! And...I don't write my views in exactly the same way as time has passed. One point that remains forever, however, is that Toni Rehbein was one of the most disloyal, and perhaps the most disloyal Missoula County Public School Trustee of all time. Two others come to mind, Trustee Rosemary Harrison and Jenda Hemphill, who are both deceased. 

This article is missing important disloyal actions by MCPS Toni Rehbein. During Rehbein's tenure, MCPS lost the use of TWO public schools, Roosevelt and Prescott Schools. Rehbein did not look after the public school children in these cases.  Under her leadership, the public lost critical and valuable building and property assets that were paid by taxpayers for many, many years.

As many in the community knew Rehbein not only voted to sell Roosevelt School to a religious school and encouraged,but did not vote (because she got caught for her past ties to MIS) for the lease of Prescott School to her former private school, MIS, she did other favors for her family using her position on the MCPS Board of Trustees.

In other words, Trustee Toni Rehbein was one of the most disloyal Missoula County Public Schools Trustees. Others in this category are: Trustee Rosemary Harrison, Trustee Jenda Cummings(Hemphill), Trustee David Merrill, Trustee Naomi DeMarinis Kimbell, Trustee Scott Bixler, Trustee Joe Toth, and others in subsequent years. These trustees voted against the public school children in 2004 and 2005, and in later years for some of these Trustees. 

These trustees cost the district massive loses in the millions of dollars range and massive disruption and confusion. These trustees forced hundreds of children to get on a bus every morning and every afternoon for much if not all of their school years. Many of these children could not get on a bike or walk to school as the distance was prohibitive and continues to this day.

It is quite disheartening to see that the disloyal Toni Rehbein is proud of her tenure. But then again, I can see that she would be proud as she helped out the schools to which she was really most loyal to, Missoula International School and the Catholic School system. 

Rehbein proud of tenure on MCPS Board of Trustees

Trustee Toni Rehbein - one, if not the most, disloyal MCPS Trustee

Important Information about Missoula's MCPS enrollment and demographics by Dr. Larry Swanson still relevant in 2026

 This document was sent to: MCPS Burley McWilliams, MCPS Superintendent Micah Hill, and publiccomment@mcpsmt.org

INFORMATION FROM CHART FROM A REPORT HANDOUT AT A HIGH SCHOOL FUTURES MEETING IN 2004

Important Information about the demographics for the Missoula County Public Schools District #1 by Dr. Larry Swanson at a High School Futures Meeting in November 2004

In the presentation above citizens were given a handout with demographic information which included many charts. On many of Swanson’s charts, there is written material as well which explains the dynamics of the population of children as they go through the school years. Swanson begins most of his explanations with the baby boom population beginning in the late 1940’s, after WW11. The baby boomer children started an explosion in school population as they grew up and started school and then rippled throughout the subsequent grades.  Then as they grew older and had children of their own these children then began another increase in the school age population. Swanson called these children the “echo boomers”. And subsequently these echo boomers once again had children of their own which Swanson calls the “echo echo boomers”

In the last paragraph of one chart (Past and Present MCPS School Enrollment Levels for Elementary Grades K through 5,1990-2030) it states,

“In general, the school systems elementary enrollment, which has been falling, has now begun to stabilize and will steadily rise for the next 10 to 12 years. After that time, the numbers will once again begin to fall, starting with the earliest grades first and with this decline then rippling through the subsequent grade levels. This general decline, however, is expected to once again stabilize after 2025 and a new floor in elementary enrollment levels will form before enrollment begins to rise after 2030.”

Once again, according to the information in the chart mentioned above, the

“….      ENROLLMENT BEGINS TO RISE AFTER 2030.”

MCPS is now looking at school buildings within the district as vacant. The district is using the low enrollment figures at this time which Swanson alludes to above, as if the enrollment will never increase. It would behoove the district to read Swanson’s information above to see that in JUST 4 YEARS THE ENROLLMENT WILL INCREASE.

Even though this information was given to the district in 2004, it is still valid today as the premise of much of his study is the effects of the baby boomers and the subsequent generations (echo boomers, echo echo boomers).

Swanson’s report was given to the district in November of 2004 after the 3 school closures and other school closures in prior years. The school board did not have this specific information; however, I was told there were other demographers who gave similar information to the district.

In fact, any changes to the buildings, whether to renovate, lease, or sell would be costly to the district. As Larry Swanson said in this presentation the best thing to do is to “ride it out”, that is to adjust in small ways, not big ways, which are not so disruptive to the district and the population as a whole.

               Figure 1 "...before enrollment begins to rise after 2030”

At the Walk-Through at Prescott School on September 18^th, 2025, I heard more than once from an MCPS school official that the MCPS enrollment was down 600 students. There have also been newspaper articles reporting on MCPS issues that discuss low enrollment.

Once again, Larry Swanson reveals that the enrollment will start an upward swing in just 4 years. Low enrollment currently does not justify huge changes in building infrastructure.  nor does it justify leasing our current school buildings nor selling a school building.

When school funding is not adequate for the spending of a district, the district needs to look at other areas to cut such as administration and program cuts.

Thank you for reading my information given to the MCPS school district in 2004 which is still relevant today.        Jeanne Joscelyn, jeannejoscelyn@hotmail.com , 406-721-9027