By Bob Connell
Orcas’ island-wide, centralized solution to public education is based in part on a simple premise: that parents can get their kids to and from school in a convenient, affordable, and safe manner.
It is admittedly difficult and painful to make small-scale budgeting decisions that trade off money used for buses versus teachers, programs, etc. However, when the scope of analysis is scaled back to look at the full budget with buses accounting for only about 1.7% (2011-2012 Final Budget data), then the buses appear to be a bargain for the predictability of daily student attendance and the future parental commitment to the school district that they offer.
In the future, decreased state funding, declines in enrollment, or skyrocketing fuel prices could increase the buses’ portion of the budget to an unacceptably high level. The causes and impacts of such circumstances would then, unfortunately, be widespread, and not having buses to take kids to and from school would be the least of our worries.
Bob Connell is an Orcas Island School District Parent
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