[MCN] MCPS Elementary Boundary Study Open House Tonight 1/31 6pm Missoula Food Bank

[Hatton Littman]

MCPS Elementary School Attendance Boundary Study Open House Tonight Thursday 1/31

On Thursday, January 31, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. at the Missoula Food Bank, 1720 Wyoming Street, MCPS will host the first Community Open House about the boundary study.

Both meetings are open to the public and participation is encouraged.

Missoula County Public Schools Elementary District is in need of a boundary study process. It has been 13 years since we last adjusted school boundaries and we know that the makeup of many of our neighborhoods has shifted since 2005. In addition, the City and County of Missoula have both updated their growth and development plans.

The primary reasons for contemplating adjustments to our school boundaries are:

Our school district is growing, over the past 11 years, we have grown by almost 800 students.
Our five-year community-wide Smart Schools 2020 construction process has passed the halfway mark.
By the end of 2019, all nine of our elementary schools will have been remodeled or rebuilt, including our newest elementary school Jeannette Rankin Elementary in the Maloney Ranch neighborhood of Missoula.
Missoulians expressed a strong desire for neighborhood elementary schools of 450- 500 students that act as anchors to their neighborhoods that have safe walking and biking routes to school. 
Once bond-funded construction is complete, we will be at 95% of planned capacity at some elementary schools while other schools are operating at 75% of planned capacity and have space for more students.
We intend to focus on our nine elementary schools in the 18-19 school year. The district will research attendance boundaries for the middle and high schools in the 19-20 school year.

The boundary study includes:

Meetings at each of our nine elementary schools (1 per school) to gather parent, student and staff input. These meetings occurred in December 2018 and January 2019.
Open House Meetings to inform the entire community throughout the process. These meetings will also be available for viewers at home via television and live-streaming.
A community advisory committee, which will review input from each school, review drafts of boundary options, and make final recommendations to the MCPS Board of Trustees.
The Elementary Boundary Advisory Committee will create guiding principles, look at data, and eventually present options for the community to consider. We will host at least two community open houses to describe the process, present data and possible options, and allow for community input. In addition, an online social mapping tool will allow for community input even if you can’t attend a meeting.

The Elementary Boundary Advisory Committee will make recommendations to the Board of Trustees in April 2019. The MCPS Board of Trustees will make all final decisions with regard to boundary adjustments and implementation timelines.

Check the clearinghouse website for the boundary study process at: www.mcpsmt.org/elementaryschoolboundarystudy <http://www.mcpsmt.org/elementaryschoolboundarystudy>
 

For additional information, contact Hatton Littman at 406-239-9066 or via email at hlittman at mcps.k12.mt.us <mailto:hlittman at mcps.k12.mt.us>. 
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