Guest Column: Building a Consensus for A Way Forward on Orcas School Facilities Issues

Community meetings planned for two Saturday afternoons, March 19 and 26 with two evening sessions in between

By Fred Klein

Here is the opportunity…

Just imagine. Being in a room with 59 other Orcas islanders committed to finding a way to move forward to ensure that the [intlink id=”11249″ type=”post”]facilities of the OISD [/intlink]are adequate to meet our collective responsibility for the education of our community’s children…

Just imagine… Being in a space where it’s safe to express all your concerns, whether they be fears of increased taxes, loss of opportunity for your children, lack of wisdom or accountability of how school monies are spent, or whatever they may be…

Just imagine…Being part of a process where contentious issues are raised and dealt with in a non-coercive, respectful, and surprisingly gentle manner…

Just imagine… Doing the hard work to reach a consensus-decision, one which everyone may not feel is the best decision, but a decision which everyone can live with, and commit themselves not to undermine…and,

Just imagine…Your sense of satifaction at rising to meet this longstanding  challenge facing our community after four years of failed initiatives and uncertainty.

Imagine your contribution to making this happen

• by signing up and participating!
• by helping to organize the event!
• by helping to ensure all segments of our island community are represented!

The venue for this event will be the Lundeen Room, Orcas Senior Center

First Session: Sat., March 19, 1:00 pm to 5:00 p.m.
Second Session: Tues., March 22, 6:30 pm to 8:30 p.m.
Third Session: Wed., March 23, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Fourth Session: Sat., March 26, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm..

This is your invitation. Participation is open to ALL Orcas citizen-taxpayers; pre-registration is requiredwith your commitment to attend ALL FOUR (4) sessions; attendance will be limited to 60 persons. As of Feb. 20, 25 persons have signed up…it MAY not happen without your participation!

Please Note: This event is subject to cancellation without a minimum of 50 participants.

This event is being organized independent of the Orcas Island School District;  3 school board members and our school superintendent have committed to attend; it has their
“grateful and supportive endorsement”.

If you would like to help organize this event, participate in it, or need further information,  please contact: Fred Klein at 376-5377 or email at: fklein@orcasonline.com; please use “schools” for subject line of email.

(Ed. note: for further information, go to past Orcas Issues posts at

orcasissues.com/guest-column-public-school-buildings-need-immediate-attention

and at orcasissues.com/getting-to-%E2%80%9Cyes%E2%80%9D-for-the-orcas-schoolchildren)