October 31, 2014 Board of Trustees Missoula County Public Schools Administration Building 215 S. 6th St. West Missoula, MT 59801 Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board: I am writing to follow up on my letter (attached) of October 16, 2014. In response to concerns that I expressed in that letter about the lack of textbooks and classroom materials in the schools, Superintendent Apostle offered to meet with me. On October 27, 2014, I met with the Superintendent in his office. Executive Regional Director Trevor Laboski and Business and Operations Director Pat McHugh were also present. I appreciate that I was able to meet with the Superintendent. But now that we have talked, I have even less confidence that District resources are being allocated in the best interests of the students. Due to the limits that prevent Trustees from responding to public comment during regular Board meetings, I am asking for the Board to reply to the questions in this letter.

I.

During our meeting, the Superintendent said there was not enough funding available to provide textbooks and classroom materials for every student. He indicated that to do so, he would have to cut staff in the schools, increase class sizes, and risk the District’s accreditation.

When I asked the Superintendent if he would make cuts in his office to help free up additional resources for students, he immediately rejected the idea. I find this troubling considering that over the past few years, the District provided funding for increased Administrative salaries, including increasing the Superintendent’s salary by over 50% since he was hired. In addition, the Superintendent has created the “Executive Regional Director” structure, which costs Missoula County taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Given the shared objective of parents and the District is to provide students with a top-flight education, I continue to be concerned that the items noted above do not reflect the best interests of attaining our common goal.

Question: Has the Superintendent ever sought additional funding from the Board in order to provide all students in the District with textbooks? If so, when and at what level of funding? Did he proffer any Administrative cuts to offset such funding?

Question: Has the Superintendent ever indicated to the Board that more spending on textbooks and classroom materials for students would force staff cuts, increased class sizes, and a loss of the District’s accreditation?

Question: Does the Board share the Superintendent’s view that no cuts should be made at the Administration level to help direct more resources to students?

II.

During our discussions, the Superintendent suggested that parent dissatisfaction over the availability of textbooks was the result of teachers not properly using the materials that were being provided by the District. Later that day, the spokesperson for MCPS appeared on the 6 o’clock KECI newscast and like the Superintendent, pointed the finger at the District’s teachers:

“I think this instance identified for us a situation where some of our elementary staff across the district aren’t aware of what they can do with a range of resources, but we’re working very fast to improve that.” (KECI News at 6, 10/27/14)

As I said to the Superintendent at the time, I have high confidence in the teachers in the District. I also believe that the proper education of our children requires the Administration, teachers and parents to work together – particularly in tough fiscal times. In my view, it is unfortunate that the Superintendent has chosen to avoid accountability to the taxpayers of this community by shifting blame to the teachers. This is not sound, visionary leadership. If the Superintendent truly believes the teachers are the issue, I would welcome evidence that he has previously raised this directly with them.

Question: Does the Board of Trustees believe that the Superintendent and his spokesperson were correct in their characterizations of teachers in the District?

III.

One of the issues discussed in my meeting with the Superintendent was the use of left-over year-end funds to purchase textbooks and classroom materials. As you know, there is no line item in the budget for these things. Frankly, this makes no sense. It is akin to a household creating a budget, but not including basics like food and shelter. Shouldn’t core elements like books, learning materials, and teacher salaries be the first things plugged into a school budget? And shouldn’t funding those foundational items be the District’s first priority? At the end of the last school year, the District had a number of retirements that reduced the amount of year-end funds available for textbooks and teaching materials. A similar situation is anticipated at the end of this school year. Does this mean students will be getting the short end of the stick once again?

Question: What is the logic behind not having a budget line item for textbooks and classroom materials?

Question: With more retirements expected at the end of this school year, what is the plan for dealing with the likely shortfall in year-end funds? What will be the impact in terms of providing textbooks and other materials for students?

I am a strong supporter of public education. As such, I believe the Board should be responsive to the questions and concerns of parents, taxpayers and other stakeholders in the District. To date, my October 16th letter has only received responses from two of eleven Trustees. By addressing the concerns in this letter, the Board can show that it is interested in hearing from and responding to the community that it serves. With this in mind, I once again ask the Board of Trustees to respond to my questions. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to your timely reply. Respectfully, Brian O’Leary cc: Alex P. Apostle, Superintendent Karen Allen, MCPS ERD Trevor Laboski, MCPS ERD Heather Davis Schmidt, MCPS ERD Jill Sheridan, Cold Springs Elementary School Melanie Charlson, Missoula MEA-MFT

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