MCPS gives 13 percent raise to Superintendent Apostle - Missoulian article from the January 16, 2013 edition

The link to the January 16th, 2013 article reporting on MCPS Superintendent's raise is below.

MCPS gives 13 percent raise to Superintendent Apostle

There were 92 comments (!) in the comment section after the article. One can find a lot of interesting information in many of the comments. Actually, Prescott School Missoula is in agreement with most of them as psm is against out-of-line salaries and raises for administrative positions. Remember: psm had a child profoundly effected by the 2004 school closures - the closing of three northeast schools at one time, including Prescott, Rattlesnake Middle School in the Rattlesnake Valley, and Mt. Jumbo in East Missoula.
The reasoning given for the closures was due to financial considerations, i.e. the administration stating there was not enough money to keep the schools open. Ever since this heartbreaking expereince, when there is wasteful spending a feeling of betrayal surfaces for psm - rightfully so, in my opinion.

One of the interesting comments that especially pertains to Prescott School is the following:

"1.   Sherman - January 15, 2013 8:27 pm

  So they had letters from the CEO of Alps. I believe that school board member Mike Smiths wife works for Alps.

also a letter from lambros, I believe lambros, Reibein and Apostle goe to the same church. I wonder how hard it was to get those letters."

"Sherman" states that Michael Smith's wife works for ALPS.  Another person also has worked for ALPS is DAVID REHBEIN - Toni Rehbein's husband. 
Would not the fact that Michael Smith's wife and Toni Rehbein's husband work at the same company be an important fact to know since MCPS Board Chair Toini Rehbein has acvocated for the Prescott/MIS lease several times and Michael Smith has voted for the Prescott/MIS lease extension.

As stated in many of the posts on this blog Missoula County Public Schools Board Chair served on the Board of Missoula International School shortly before being elected to the MCPS Board in 2004.

Was the reason Michael Smith ran for the school board to help secure the lease of Prescott School for Missoula International School?  It seems entirely possible, especially now that we know his connections to the Rehbeins.

Sentinel students win PBS award for report on protests of superintendent's raise

Sentinel students win PBS award for report on protests of superintendent's raise

Conversations in the lower Rattlenake - the neighborhood of Prescott School

Today Prescott School Missoula visited with a couple that have lived in their home in the lower Rattlesnake for many years and have raised their children in this neighborhood.

Their children attended Prescott School in past years.

During our conversation they stated that they believe that neighborhood schools are the most beneficial for students.  They prefer the K-8 school configuration so that children can attend their neighborhood schools.

This couple's children started out going to kindergarten at the University Church kindergarten  (the University Congregational Church?).  Note: Prescott School Missoula  attended this kindergarten in the early '60's.

After kindergarten their children attended Prescott School for grades K-5 and then went on to attend Rattlesnake Middle School.

Later, their children attended Mt. Jumbo School for K-3, Prescott School for grades 4 and 5, and then Rattlesnake Middle School for grades 6-8.

The children attended Hellgate High School for their high school education.

This Rattlesnake couple is disappointed in all the busing taking place in Missoula. Prescott School Missoula mentioned to them that on schoolsopen.org (not sure about the accuracy of this website) it states that the cost of busing in Missoula has increased about a million dollars in the last 10 years.

They also are disappointed in the school district's philosophy that bigger schools are better for students and remember during the 2004 school closures that the district officials called the bigger schools, "attendance centers" and thought this was not in the best interests of our children.

This couple along with Prescott School Missoula do not currently have children in the public school children.  Many people care about the education of Missoula's children- not just the parents which currently have children in the system. Many Missoulians are disappointed in what is going on with our schools - seeing so many of our schools have been closed in the last 25 years (three at one time in 2004).

Additionally, people care about the health of their neighborhoods.  A neighborhood school is the "heart of the neighborhood" and is important for everyone in the neighborhood.

Prescott School Missoula was grateful for my conversation with this lower Rattlesnake couple. It is so comforting to speak with people that support our BELOVED PRESCOTT SCHOOL and support neighborhood schools in general and the K-8 school configuration. 

Viva Prescott School!

Students immersed in Spanish at Missoula International School - Missoulian article published in the October 11, 2010 edition

Read a 2010 Missoulian article reporting on the Missoula International School now leasing Prescott School. 

Students immersed in Spanish at Missoula International School

Note that MIS was started in a basement of a home and now has 145 full time equivalent students.  This enrollment increase would NOT have occurred if MIS had not received a sweetheart lease  of Prescott School begun in 2004.  The use of a public school by a private school is not in the best interests of the public school district which has been explained over and over in meetings and in writing since 2004.The closure of Prescott School and the subsequent lease approval and extensions has been allowed by DISLOYAL MISSOULA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLTRUSTEES.

Below is information which reporter Jamie Kelly included on Missoula International School.


Missoula International School

Address: 1100 Harrison St.

Mascot: None

Year Founded: 1995

Enrollment: 160 (145 full-time equivalent)

Full-time (or FT-equivalent) teachers: 15

Student-teacher ratio: 10-to-1

Head of school: Julie Lennox (15th year)

Notable feature: MIS, which began as a preschool program in a living room, now occupies the former Prescott School, a property of the Missoula County Public Schools district.

 

The article reporting on Missoula International School was part of a

series of articles written by Jamie Kelly named "Hall Passages". A

description is quoted below.

 

Editor’s note: “Hall Passages” is a weekly education feature in the

Missoulian. Each week on a rotating basis, K-12 education

reporter Jamie Kelly visits a private or public school in the

Missoula Valley to see what’s new in the halls and walls of our l

earning institutions. This week, Kelly spent some time at the

Missoula International School."

 

Prescott School Missoula would have liked to have read more

about the lease and it's drawbacks in the article. This information

would have been of great interest to Missoula taxpayers as they are

virtually subsidizing the private school.

Raise a fraction of what Apostle has achieved

Click the link below to read a guest column by Dirk Visser in the February 28th, 2013 edition of the Missoulian. 

Dirk Visser writes that he approves of the 13% raise for Superintendent Apostle.

Raise a fraction of what Apostle has achieved

There were many interesting comments in the comment section after the guest column.

One comment particulary relevant to the business of the distict is by Buzz Feedback.
He states:
Buzz Feedback - March 01, 2013 3:40 pm





"One other point worth noting: Allegiance administers the employee benefit plans for the Missoula County School District. So it's in Mr. Visser's personal and business interests to blow sunshine up the collective a$$ of the Superintendent and the Board of Trustees."

 

Another comment reveals Mr. Visser's connection to the Community Medical Center Foundation and David Rehbein - Chairwoman Toni Rehbein's husband.  Dirk's wife Kim is on the Board of this Foundation while David Rehbein is on one of the Foundation's committes dealing with investments.

 

This relationship is rather cozy in light of the school distrct's activities.  As both the Vissers and the Rehbeins are connected to a community entity the Vissers may have more influence than the general public in the day to day activities of the district.

 

Fighting 4 Missoula - February 28, 2013 5:08 pm

"...If one uses Google and types in the names of Dirk Visser and David Rehbein (Chairwoman Toni Rehbein's husband) a Community Medical Center Foundation document appears. In this document one can read that Kim Visser is on the Community Medical Center Executive Board  {probably should have added Foundation to the title - psm} and serves as the Community Events/Service person. Later in the document one can read where David Rehbein is on the Investment Committee. It reads, "The Investment Committee plans and oversees all area of the Community Medical Center Foundation's investments." Could David Rehbein's position on this Board have anything to do with the Visser donations to MCPS? And is this ethical? Furthermore, the Vissers donated in the range of $100,000-$249,000 (Benefactor category) to the CMCF. In other words Visser's money was being handled by David Rehbein and others. This seems questionable to me."

 

 

Remember that Chairwoman Toni Rehbein was the President and Vice President o Missoula International School shortly before being elected to the MCPS School Baord and quickly advocated for the lease of Prescott School to the Missoula International School and even advocated for a sale in addition to voting for the aqusition of an appraisal of Prescott School.

 

A little hanky panky may run in the family.

To MCPS officials: Our students need Prescott School - Your facility study needs to include it in district plans

Missoulians need Prescott School to remain a public school in the Rattlesnake Valley.

As predicted by a economist in Missoula who produced a demographic report for the district, our elementary school population has increased and will continue to increase in the next few years. See the link to the report above.

In the summer of 2012 the district built a modular on the playground of Rattlesnake School as the school was at capacity.  The school had been using about 11 para-educators for a while due to the increase in class sizes. (A para-educator is needed in a classroom along with the main teacher if the class size is over a certain number of children due to state standards.)

The cost of the modular was about $250,000.

Why didn't the district consider re-opening Prescott School?

Prescott School Missoula is of the belief that the district, under Chairwoman Toni Rehbein, wished to continue helping out Missoula International School.  Remember that Rehbein was the past president of MIS and also a vice president shortly before being elected to the school board.

Disloyalty, mismanagement, and corruption, as brought forth in the posts on this blog, explain some of what is going on with the closure and lease of Prescott School.  Remember, professionals within our community are on the record stating that this lease has cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars PER YEAR, thus, overall this lease is costing the district millions of dollars.

Please contact the school board members and let them know you wish to keep Prescott School in the public school system for not only the Rattlesnake children but for all Missoulians - crowding conditions due to sending our students to other schools - effects everyone. 

Our children DESERVE to be able to attend a neighborhood school - a school which many public school children in the Rattlesnake Valley have attended for over a century.


**Michael Beers
P.O. Box 5195

Missoula, MT   50806

Voice Mail – 728-2400 Ext. 4906

Home Phone - 406-728-1630

Email – mbeers@mcps.k12.mt.us

Term Expires – Year 2016

**Rose Dickson
1852 S. 10^th Street W.
Missoula, Montana 59801

Voice Mail - 728-2400 Ext. 4901

Home Phone – 406-214-9467

Email – rdickson@mcps.k12.mt.us

Term Expires Year 2014

 

*Debbie Dupree (represents K-8 Seeley Lake,
Swan Valley, Clinton, Potomac, and Sunset districts)

P.O. Box 88

Seeley Lake, MT   59868

Voice Mail: 728-2400 Ext. 4908

Home Phone - 406-677-3869

Email – ddupree@mcps.k12.mt.us

Term Expires Year 2014

 

*Marcia Holland (represents Hellgate K-8 School District)

2616 Wedgewood Ct.

Missoula, MT  59808

Voice Mail – 728-2400 Ext. 4909

Home Phone - 406-543-6598

Email – mholland@mcps.k12.mt.us

erm Expires Year 2015

 

**Joseph Knapp

100 Broadview Place

Missoula, MT   59803

Voice Mail – 728-2400 Ext. 4903

Home Phone – 406-542-3145

Email – jknapp@mcps.k12.mt.us

Term Expires – Year 2015

**Diane Lorenzen

3860 Fox Farm Road

Missoula, MT  58902

Voice Mail – 728-2400 Ext. 4900

Home Phone 406-549-3995

Email – dlorenzen@mcps.k12.mt.us

Term Expires – Year 2016

 

*James Sadler (represents Target Range and Bonner

K-8 districts)

1220 Clements Road

Missoula, MT  59804

Voice Mail – 728-2400 Ext. 4910

Home Phone – 406-728-4743

Email – jimsadler@mcps.k12.mt.us

Term Expires Year 2015

 

**Michael Smith

112 Rolling Green Place

Missoula, MT   59803

Voice Mail – 728-2400 Ext. 4902

Home Phone – 721-0313

Email – mjsmith@mcps.k12.mt.us

Term Expires Year 2015

 

**Julie Tompkins

417 Woodford

Missoula, MT   59801

Voice Mail – 728-2400 Ext. 4907

Home Phone – 406-241-5396

Email – jtompkins@mcps.k12.mt.us

Term Expires Year 2016

 

*Ann Wake (represents Lolo, Woodman,

and DeSmet K-8 districts)

12043 Pleasant Meadows

Lolo, MT  59847

Voice Mail 728-2400 Ext. 4904

Home Phone – 406- 552- 8063

Email – awake@mcps.k12.mt.us

Term Expires Year 2016

 

**Shelley Wills

3032 Queen Street

Missoula, MT   59801

Voice Mail – 728-2400 Ext. 4905

Home Phone – 406-543-3646

Email – swills@mcps.k12.mt.us   Term Expires – Year 2014

Contact Trustees - (psm cut and pasted the following information and typed out the above trustee info).  If there is a problem contacting any of the trustee perhaps psm made an error. One can check on the district website for the addresses also at www. mcpsmt.org.

The Board of Trustees accepts public comment from students, staff, parents and community members through a variety of avenues. Options include:

Send written comment to Board of Trustees, Administration Building, 215 S. Sixth West, Missoula, Mt. 59801. Comments received will be provided to trustees at their next regular monthly meeting (second Tuesday of the month), or any appropriate meeting that is scheduled sooner.

Email written comment to individual trustees (see email links above).

E-mail written comment to publiccomment@mcps.k12.mt.us. Comments should be addressed to trustees and received by the preceding Wednesday, 4:30 p.m., prior to the Board's regular monthly meeting held on the second Tuesday of the month. Only comments received by this deadline will be included in the regular monthly meeting packet (which is also made available to the public).

Leave a verbal comment to individual trustees on their "voice mail" (see individual voice mail telephone extensions below). * Trustees that sit only on High School Board **Trustees that sit on both Elementary and High School Boards

updated on June 22, 2013, July 20, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Lease Rates for Missoula County Public Schools Leased Properties.- for Facility Study held today - June 20, 2013

The lease Rates for MCPS Properties including Prescott School.

This document was included on the website along with other documents for the new steering committee for MCPS facilities.

Notice the LOW, LOW rates for our properties.

Remember that Missoula International School got a steal in 2004 and only paid 79cents/sq.ft. for the first three years ($20,000 per year) and then $30,000 for the next two years on the five year lease. A steal.

Then in the first extension the lease rate was $35,000, $40,000, and $45,000 for three years respectively. Another steal.

The in the second extension the lease rates are listed below - And another steal.

CURRENT MCPS BUILDING LEASES

School

Total Sq. Ft.

Acres

Rent per Sq. Ft.

Monthly Lease Amount

Lease Term

Termination Notice/Renewal

Lessee

Prescott

25,100

2.3

1.24

$3,333

8/1/2009 - 7/31/2012

Either party may terminate with 90-day written notice. Lessee may terminate with 90-days written notice at conclusion of years 2, 3, and 4 of the term of lease. Rent to increase $5000 each ensuing year on Aug. 1st.

Missoula International Schools

2.19

$4,583

8/1/2012 - 7/31/2013

Board approved 7/12/2011

2.29

$4,792

8/1/2013 - 7/31/2014

"

2.39

$5,000

8/1/2014 - 7/31/2015

"

CPIU with 3% Cap

8/1/2015 - 7/31/2016

"

CPIU with 3% Cap

8/1/2016 - 7/31/2017

"

Mt. Jumbo

39,200*

5.3

2.25

$4,380

10/30/2005 - 10/30/2010

Lessee may renew for additional five years subject to discretion of Board

Walla Walla University

2.29

$4,748

10/30/2010 - 10/30/2015

Board approved 6/8/2010

CPIU with 3% Cap

Yearly increase

* Walla Walla University leases approx. 23,000 sq. ft. (59%) of Mt. Jumbo, and the remainder is used by MCPS for storage

Whittier

$1/year

8/1/2004 - 7/31/2014

Either party may terminate with 90-day written notice.

Head Start

Duncan Drive

1.32

$10 every 10 years

7/1/2000 - 6/30/2010

Either party may terminate with 90-day written notice. Lessor must notify in writing 90-days prior to June 30.

City of Missoula

Lowell Site

4.3

$1/year

9/1/1998 - 8/31/2008

Lessor may terminate with 30-day written notice.

Missoula City Parks and Recreation

Westside Park - Ground Lease

$1/year

9/1/2004 - 8/31/2044

City requested amendement for 40 year extension due to addition of splash deck. Board approved 11/11/2003

Lowell Site

Lessee may renew for additional ten years subject to discretion of Board.

Partnership Health Center

Ground Lease

10,730

$1/year

12/3/2012 - 12/3/2032

Board approved 12/3/2012