Guest Opinion: Support Orcas Schools’ Tradition of Planning Ahead

By the Orcas Island School District Board of Directors

In the 1940’s the island school enrollment was around 100 students. Orcas residents recognized the need to build a new school.  At the time, the island economy was based on farming and logging.   WWII was over and there was a feeling that education was critical to moving the island, and our county forward.  Orcas voters had the vision to put their money into a new, well-constructed building. So in 1949 they built the Nellie S. Milton and they filled it. Almost 70 years later, the foresight to invest in a well-built facility bears this out; that building is our current elementary school.

In the 1970’s the community again recognized a need in our school district.  So in 1979, with about 370 students on campus, they embarked on building a new high school, library, shop, cafeteria, a home ec classroom, and offices. Again voters appreciated the importance of providing better learning facilities for our island’s children.  And they did this during a time when our country had high unemployment, historically high inflation, and mortgages rates in the 15% range.  Without succumbing to the fears that this might be the worst time for expansion, these voters had the vision to improve their schools, and they made that vision a reality.

Again in the 1980s, with a student population averaging about 375 and the island population at about 3000 people, voters again see a need for an additional building program. They decide to turn the High School into a Middle School and build a new High School to insure that our students receive the best education possible.  In 1992 the current High School was built. About that time tourism and construction became the economic bedrock of this island and logging fell by the wayside.

Since the 1980s, many factions of our national economy have moved away from manufacturing into high tech and other services. Our educational system needs to adapt and prepare our students for higher education and other vocational skills. So here we are in 2010 at a crossroads as a community with regard to the future of our school district. Today we have more than 5200 residents and a projected enrollment of 470 students on campus and an additional 70 students off campus.  We also have buildings that have outlived their useful lives and are literally falling apart.

This school board expects their teachers and staffs to provide excellent educational opportunities for our students and yes, in these economic times we are asking this community to help us replace these buildings. This board is not asking for grand structures and frivolous new programs, rather, the replacement of current buildings. For one reason or another these buildings were not built to standards that rendered them simple to maintain and clean. They also do not meet current health and safety standards. We are determined to not repeat the past; we will be building replacement buildings that are long lasting and simpler to maintain, we have setup an advisory committee to advise us along the way made up of the public, professionals, teachers, administration and the board, we will build for quality and based on a list of priorities, and, if there are funds left over, we will use these funds to pay down the bond.

It has been 60 years since students first walked into the Nellie S. Milton to start or continue their education. It took a community, it took parents and those who weren’t parents, to have the vision to build a school to help our children reach whatever educational goals they had as young adults.  We want the same for our current students and for the students that will be walking into this campus 60 years from now.  Please vote YES for the school bond.

Tony Ghazel, Scott Lancaster, Chris Sutton, Jim Sullivan, Janet Brownell