–by April and Clyde Duke —
We had three children go through the Orcas public school system. Two graduated conventionally and one through the OASIS program. We want to support the ongoing viability of this important institution therefore we will be voting NO on the school bond measure.
When our eldest graduated in 2003 the district had 650 students (non-Oasis) and I don’t think the enrollment has ever risen above that. According to the website, the district now has 464 students. The demographics are not showing a positive trend for the school system. Those of us with local businesses know how hard it is to find employees during the busy season because our overall population is aging (sorry folks, happens to the best of us!).
According to one site about San Juan Island, their population is down 2% from 2010-2015. I couldn’t find data for Orcas, but when we moved here in 1990 it the number of year round residents was always about 5,000. According to the 2010 census it was 5,387. Not a lot of growth in 20 years.
Currently the annual overhead for the school district is around $10 million. If this bond passes we feel that the overhead of the district will go up due to having to maintain the new track, purchase equipment to make it a competitive area and hire coaching staff.
The main problem we have with the bond as written is that some maintenance projects that received high priority at the community meetings regarding the bond are not included in projects to be completed. These will now need to wait for a future bond and like the parking lot at the high school and the concrete lintels on the elementary school will be ongoing safety issues.
A second issue we have is that for years the sailing and rowing programs have been clubs and have been staffed by volunteers and supported with private fundraisers. Other sports programs have been supported by many volunteer hours and dollars as well. To spend millions of dollars on another sports program in a small community with virtually no growth worries us that it will make it harder to fund the programs already in place.
We regret having to write a negative recommendation after many hours of effort by the school board, staff and members of our community to crafting the bond plan, which is why we’ve waited until the last minute to speak out but our conscience demands it. Sorry OISD, please try again. We would contribute to help fund a new election with a more “needs” versus “wants” focused plan. And a very sincere “thank you” to the donor who wants to help fund the track and who has been a staunch backer of the public schools. Your generosity is wonderful.
I usually don’t comment on issues. Thank you Clyde and April for your research and insight on the School Bond. I have been here since 1980. You are right on all points. I will vote according. I want the best for the kids. Maintaining the present building needs are more important than the “wants”
wow, I am sorry April that we did not talk sooner. I am sorry you feel this way about our school. I had kids in both the rowing and sailing programs. These are clubs, all rowing and sailing CLUBS whom they compete with operate the same way. This track is an asset. I hope you read the editorials that my daughter Grace and I submitted to the Sounder. Our school strings program has grown and become so vital to our kids thanks to Pamela Wright and our supportive district. Also we discussed this afternoon about the community use of the track. Well, there is a lot of adult recreation that happens in the gym after school hours just like the track will be open after school and possible before school. Please reconsider and vote yes!!!
Thank you, April and Clyde.
May may we each follow are paths and enlighten our thoughts. Thus, we begin to engage.
I wish we knew why track was so important to this donor. I know why track is important to a school for all grades and not just for a track team. We could have a track club, supported the same way rowing and sailing are supported. This would be a summer club. Remember Jesse Owens running in the 1936 summer Olympics for USA with Hitler looking on. Profound in this current political climate. Please vote yes for this thoughtful, affordable bond.
The time is now to vote. The time to engage was during the past 6 months. There are very important issues on this bond that really need our attention. Let’s keep up the progress here on Orcas. Carpe Diem!
Lopez Island School District, with an enrollment of less than half that of Orcas, has had a great track for decades (and has produced a few state champions). They did it with the help of Lopez community donors and local construction companies.
When considering whether or not to vote for an infrastructure bond (school, recreation district, library, etc.), my way of analyzing it is whether or not the levy increase represents (to me) a good investment in the community I chose to live in. It’s not about looking backwards at what the community had 10 or 30 years ago; rather, what do we want and need our public commons — our public assets — to be going forward — for us older folks and for the children and young families in our community.
Will everything get built this time around? No. But let’s be realistic. The annual increase for a $500K home ($140) is less than the cost of a Wave2Go ferry pass ($149.75). And that pays for a whole package of improvements, including a well-constructed track that benefits anyone who would choose to use it, like the public library. Our youth will have safe access to a new range of track and field sports. And realistically, a lot of us are getting older, and need to be more – not less – mobile. Having a track in the middle of town where all of us can get some exercise (rather than risk getting mowed down on shoulder-less roads) seems like a great investment to me, in addition to the other much-needed building improvements that the bond will enable.