from Janet Brownell
This week the Orcas Island School District (OISD) learned of some exciting news coming out of the most recent Special Budget Session. Senator Kevin Ranker (D) has secured $1 million dollars in capital funds to be used for vital improvements to the Orcas Island public schools. Working with the OISD Administration and School Board, Senator Ranker recognized that there are essential repairs needed to the public school buildings.
According to Senator Ranker, “At a time when Capital funds are increasingly scarce, I am particularly proud to secure $1,000,000.00 for the Orcas Island School District for critical repairs and upgrades that will increase longevity of our school buildings while making them more energy efficient and safer for our children. In the end, it was the community support for our schools through levies and private donations that made the difference. It is always easier to secure State Capital Funds when the community is also doing their part. Thanks to the Orcas Island community for making it easier to do something good.”
Superintendent Barbara Kline is thrilled that the OISD will be receiving this new funding. “We need to make repairs to our schools, and this relieves us of having to ask our community for a million dollars for those renovations.” Kline believes that much of the money will be used to replace the failing siding on the High School, as well as possibly making some repairs to the old gym and the Waldron School. “This is fantastic news for the district. We appreciate the incredible support Senator Ranker gives to our schools, and to public education in general,” says Kline.
In addition to the funding for our Orcas Island schools, Senator Ranker also secured $42 million for other capital projects in the 40th district. This will create approximately 420 jobs in San Juan, Skagit and Whatcom Counties.
Here Here!! Bravo Kevin!
You would make your grandmother proud of you as we all are, Great work!
The knee-jerk jubilation of my initial post on reading about the $1M State funds for OSID ignored what I firmly believe; namely, that this kind of thing doesn’t just happen all by itself…so I want to salute our school board and administration for their successful efforts and their ongoing work on behalf of our community and the education of our children…kudos all around!
Fabulous news! Many thanks to all of you who worked so hard to make this happen.
To the school board and staff, congratulations!
What an honor for our community to realize this huge support from our senator, Kevin Ranker. It is truly wonderful to see all the good efforts of OISD starting to pay back.
Clyde Duke
Congratulations to Kevin and to all those of the community who have worked so hard to make this happen.
Thank you, Senator Ranker, for your active persistence. A salute to Superintendent Barbara Klein, the teaching staff, and the OISD for on-going patience in educating us all about the needs in our schools. And special thanks to the Orcas community, including OIEF and OICF, for recognizing that educating Orcas young people is the best investment we could make for the future.