MISSOULA – Missoula County Public Schools trustees are approving the first review of elementary school boundaries in more than a dozen years.
While there’s a chance the changes could take effect as soon as a year from now, that’s not certain.
District administrators say its time to review growth trends and school capacities to make sure they line up.
“To talk about properties that have been subdivided, platted and their potential impact on the schools. It’s been 13-years since the district has completed a boundary review,” MCPS Superintendent Mark Thane said.
Thane told the board Tuesday evening that the review comes as the district prepares to close the massive construction phase for elementary schools under the “Smart Schools 2020” bond.
He says while its’ likely some schools wouldn’t see much change, others could need to be adjusted to match capacity with Missoula’s growth trends.
Some board members were concerned with the suggestion that the changes could be ready a year from now, directing staff to take whatever time is necessary.
But Thane assured trustees the review will include lots of opportunity for public involvement.
“The intent is to have a full and transparent process that would include meetings in each of the elementary buildings gather some feedback to inform the process,” Thane explained.
“We would put together a steering committee. We would contract with a firm to do data gathering and analysis for us. Then we would hold, throughout the process at least two public open houses,” he added.
Thane says once the elementary boundaries are reviewed and adjusted, MCPS would look at the middle school and high school boundaries, probably in the 2019-2020 school year.
