Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Parents and teachers urge board to preserve Hellgate French, district Arabic program amid cuts
Loading...
Summary
Multiple public commenters, including long‑time teachers and community volunteers, told the Missoula County Public Schools board they are alarmed by recent reductions to Hellgate High School’s French offerings and cuts to Arabic at Sentinel, saying hosting and exchange components were canceled and training/resources are outdated.
Several longtime teachers and community members appealed directly to the Missoula County Public Schools board on language‑program cuts, warning that recent administrative decisions are damaging established French and Arabic offerings.
"It appears that the Hellgate principal is conducting a calculated, egregious, and perhaps vindictive dismantling of a French program that has been strong since the nineteen—," Peggy Patrick, a 34‑year district teacher, told the board. Patrick described a family‑stay hosting program scheduled for January that she said was pulled just before Christmas and said Language and Friendship had been a long‑standing partner since 1997. She urged the board to preserve the program and the student exchanges.
Professor Aione Creme of the University of Montana also spoke in support of exchange hosting, calling the work "a very simple, not very expensive way of fostering international friendship and communication" and urging continued district participation.
An instructor who identified themself as the district’s Arabic teacher told trustees the Sentinel position will not continue next year because of enrollment cuts, and that Arabic instruction has already been reduced at other schools. "We are very, very lucky to have this program," the teacher said, urging the board to reverse reductions.
Katie Weisker, who identified herself as an IB French teacher with years of correspondence documenting the program’s changes, presented pages of emails and resource examples she called outdated. She said IB French and Arabic were built with community investments and grants and questioned whether new hires have received necessary IB training and up‑to‑date materials.
Board chair and staff limited the public comment period to procedural listening (no Q&A), and trustees did not take action during the meeting. Several trustees later said the issues raised could be placed on a future agenda for discussion and possible staff follow‑up.
The public testimony tied program concerns to broader district decisions and levy discussions: commenters urged trustees not to ask taxpayers for new funds to sustain programs the public perceives are being allowed to fade. Trustees and staff acknowledged the comments and said they would consider bringing further information back to the board in a future meeting.
