Missoula County Public Schools and the Public – Is there a "failure to communicate"?

Many are questioning the process for public comment and involvement at MCPS http://www.mcpsmt.org meetings. Here are comments from City Council member Jason Wiener about a meeting scheduled for 10/29/14 that were included in his weekly update on City Council matters:

"Tonight, I write from the hallway of the school administration building and I am in another of those molded plastic chairs. I’m at the school administration building because the school board is having a special meeting in order to go over their procedures for conducting meetings. As I mentioned in last week’s post, it seemed like they could use some revisions because of how restrictive they are on who speaks and when. So, I am showing up, even though this is about the worst week of my life to be at a Wednesday night meeting. I’m in the hallway because, for a reason that will maybe be explained but that seems utterly incomprehensible to me now, the board started off the meeting about the procedures for public involvement with an executive session that is currently approaching an hour in length. I have no doubt the meeting itself is a personnel matter that warrants the closed session. Why you would advertise a meeting start time and then schedule as the first item something that requires everyone not on the board to leave is another mystery of the school board, I guess."

He followed later in his email with:

"Nothing to report on how the school board went. They are still in executive session and it is going on an hour and quarter that it has been so. I might just submit my comment by email and call it a night. I can read about it on Heidi’s blog about school board: http://www.msoschools.org/" Jason Wiener