Barbara Kline Departs After 24 Years, Leaving Legacy

 — by Margie Doyle —

• Bond remodel?     √
  
• New principals?    √
  
• OASIS Alternative Learning Experience  and High School in place?     √
  

With the major goals checked off her list, Barbara Kline is on target to leave her job as Orcas Island School District Superintendent. Thus closes a chapter of 24 years of her administration at Orcas Public Schools.

She grew up in Washington DC, thinking she’d like to be a teacher or a bureaucrat. Her Bachelors Degree from the University of Maryland was in English and History. Then she married and moved to California, where she obtained her teaching credentials. “I loved watching kids learn, the interaction with them, and then watching the light come on; for little kids come to social studies understanding, for example.”

Not sure what direction to pursue next, Barbara got a Masters Degree in Business Administration, involving three years of night courses at UCLA-Northridge, and started working for  a reading clinic, “The Reading Game,” a precursor to Sylvan Learning Centers.

Then along came daughter Kathleen (now working as a law clerk at the State Court of Appeals in Seattle), and Barbara decided that “the pieces I really liked were in education.” Teaching in Ventura County, she was asked to interview for an administrative position to further the school’s improvement plan for student accomplishment, setting objectives and goals, deciding how to accomplish those goals, referring to checklists. “That kind of planning has been a constant idea and good idea,” says Barbara. “We do have pendulum swings, and things morph into different names, but the key to me has been holding onto a good idea, maybe changing the name, adding new things and morphing to a new system and vocabulary.

“For example, the Common Core program is great. It’s much of what we’ve been doing, applying reading and writing skills to science and social studies; assigning performance tasks; demonstrating the learning: the students ‘showcasing’ what they can do. The Washington state framework has different areas but the end points are the same: What do you learn; and how did you do…always the standards, methods and results.”

Teaching and administration has been made both “easier and more difficult by the global nature of the information stream, she says. “The potential for students to access the world is enormous, and so is the difficulty of making that make sense.”

She is disappointed at the persistent level of acceptance and support for the use of alcohol and drugs on the island. It comes in waves, and the tolerance is not uncommon, but the level of expectation for use makes things difficult, she says.

“The school is very willing to participate in meetings — and parents used to come — but it is not entirely up to school to affect this culture. It’s a family and community issue in which the school has a role.

“The school has regularly done its part, enforcing contracts, watching, interfering and applying consequences, but it does not control what happens at home, on evenings and weekends.”

Barbara takes pride in seeing that Orcas Island students understand that their schooling gives them the ability “to go anywhere from Orcas; that it gives so many gifts and skills to be what they want to be. And this is done with such an excellent staff — they hold the kids together and then push them out the door!”

Barbara has found that at conferences off-island, many people are surprised by the high poverty level of Orcas families, and equally by how well the kids do. “They’re outperforming other districts with a poverty level way below the 50 percent we have here,” Barbara said.

“There’s a reason for that ‘out-performance’ — high expectations, huge support from our teachers and the community — everybody working together. The mind set is so important to have high school graduates as a goal, it starts at elementary school, and that’s one of the beauties of one campus. — you’re expected to do homework, pass tests and progress through school.”

Barbara also takes pride in the development of OASIS (Orcas Alternative Student-Initiated Studies) as a real alternative for kids to complete their secondary education if the traditional course of study isn’t working for them. “We offer enough variety for every student to be successful. ”

OASIS started in the early 200s as an elementary program; when we added the high school it really made it complete. OASIS High School was formalized in 2007. “That was huge, it completed the circle and with the online opportunities, it’s just amazing.”

She’s disappointed the District was unable to pass the first bond in 2009 — “It would have helped so much during the recession. But we have this one now and it will be great.” She gives credit to Business Manager Keith Whitaker and the Budget Advisory Committee, formed in 2007, for knowing the budget and school finances inside out. “The board too was just great, that [recession] time was hard for everybody.

She says of the 2012 Capital Construction bond, “It’s a great thing with this development of remodeled structures, and gives us the opportunities to share in the use of them among tax-funded entities, such as with the Park and Recreation District. There a nice balance with each doing our jobs; the Intentional use of sharing public spaces for the community. Most things are done because of the bigger picture, and it helps people work together.”

While others may get down when the going gets tough, Barbara says, “I see it as stuff to get done; I love making things work out, and I always have a plan. Just do what has to be done and figure out the next step. It’s a manager’s job to look at the issues to solve and potential resources, and then you solve them.”

How she relaxes holds an important key to Barbara’s administrative style. She likes to read books and do internet research, catch up on National Geographic magazines and take walks — and make lists. “Sometimes when you’ve got a lot to do, when you make a list, at least you have a hope of getting them done. It gets it off your head, and is one of the greatest tools.”

This spring she has doggedly worked to complete her long list of tasks, and looks forward to engaging with new Superintendent Eric Webb to make a smooth transition. “He will be a nice addition, and with a 9th grade student enrolled in Orcas High School and purchasing a home on the island, Eric is settling right into the community.”

She has planned her retirement for some time. She felt she couldn’t leave in the middle of the Great Recession, and she wanted to get the bond passed. The key was to get another good principal, and Kathy [Page] is such a good principal and Kyle [Freeman will do very well in Middle /High School.

“Then I thought I could leave when the district is a good place. There will be crises but not on the horizon right this minute.”

When will her job at the school district really feel “done”? Barbara says, “At the 4th of July weekend; then I’m done and out of here. I’ll enjoy being a citizen. People who’ve retired tell me I’ll get used to it quickly.”