Last Tuesday’s meeting of the Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees came to order at 6pm with all trustees present except for Trustee Michael Gehl.

Following the pledge of allegiance, the board approved the minutes of the April 12^th meeting during which a parent had read the contents of a homework assignment given out by a Sentinel High School health teacher: a questionnaire about sexuality that many students and parents found offensive.  The incident directly followed the board’s amendment to policy 2311, which now states that the board is not required to approve all instructional material used within the classroom.

The school board has avoided discussion of the questionnaire and, according to trustee Gehl, will likely not take on the topic.

“Because I have no voice currently, I cannot even discuss the issue at a board meeting because it is not on the agenda,” Gehl said. “Remember, Montana open meeting laws require advanced notice of all topics of discussion. So Rob [Watson] and Diane [Lorenzen] are sweeping this under the rug as if it never happened. Officially, I still have not been notified of the teachers name, and yes, I have asked. I have learned through the grapevine that some administrative action was taken, but again I have not been notified.”

Western Montana News asked how many complaints the school board had received regarding the contentious instructional material and whether or not any complaint was being considered as an informal challenge to the instructional material as allowed for in board policy 2313P. According to Gehl, he has not received any information about formal or informal challenges to the sexual orientation questionnaire. “I have been provided no such information,” said Gehl.

The Native American Student Services group made a presentation of thanks to the board. The group held a smudging ceremony in the boardroom on Friday as their military veterans helped to hang several Native American flags that honor all the local tribes. Trustee Wilena Old Person spoke of the importance of these flags to her, and stated this display reinforces the iValue and diversity, equity and inclusion principles that MCPS stands for. The presentation ended with all members of NASS introducing themselves, a prayer by George Kicking Woman, and applause from the attendees. 

The board approved the new science curriculum, which had been on display in the same building throughout the month of April for public viewing, which few members of the community took advantage of according to the group. Elsie Guest, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Anna Puryear, Instructional Coach PK-5, and BJ Ihde, Instructional Coach 6-12 and future VP of Big Sky High School, explained the curriculum with a presentation and slides. The curriculum is Project Lead the Way and Mystery Science for K-5, and Amplify Science for 6-8 grades. One public comment made praised the curriculum team on their hard work in exploring and adopting the new curriculum.

The meeting continued with the budgetary reports, approving requests for grant applications and a middle school Spanish class trip to Costa Rica that had been postponed due to the pandemic. The board also heard a letter from the Missoula Early Learning Center, who leases a part of the school building. The lessee has not been successful in obtaining funds for needed upgrades, is in default on the lease, and wishes to break it. This agenda item will continue to the next meeting.

School board elections were discussed during the announcements portion of the meeting. Since the provisional ballots cannot be opened until May 9^th, it is unlikely the certified election results will be available in time for the May 10^th meeting. The current board will attend that meeting, with the newly elected members taking their seats at the May 24^th meeting. The law states there are 25 days from the election to install the new members. Trustees Lorenzen (current Chair) and McDonald did not run for re-election.

The next meeting of the board of trustees will be next Tuesday, May 10^th at 6pm in the boardroom of the Administration Building, 909 South Ave W.