Letter to Editor | An open letter to editors of theOrcasonian and the Sounder

||| FROM LILI HEIN |||

If you have available staff, please send a reporter to attend the next Orcas Island School District Board at 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 26. The main topic for the last OISD board meeting was the budget, including looming budget and staff cuts, despite voters approving two levies in the past year. The shortfall is mainly due to enrollment losses. Following a national trend due to covid when public schools closed and private schools stayed open, many students left OISD to avoid remote learning and switched to attend in-person at Orcas Christian or Salmonberry, which both now have waiting lists. Salmonberry boasted its highest enrollment with 60 students in a recent press release for its 20th anniversary. 

At the last OISD board meeting, Superintendent Eric Webb presented enrollment numbers for the past ten years, showing steady enrollment. However, as one astute board member, Ayn Gailey, pointed out, the numbers did not distinguish between the loss of existing students versus new students arriving on Orcas. For example, five existing students leave OISD, but six new students arrive on Orcas, so enrollment appears steady or growing by hiding the loss of five existing students. It may be a lot of work to dig into old student files to compile annual numbers of students leaving OISD, but seems like an important detail since enrollment is a foundational piece of the budget. Perhaps there could be a system to track students leaving OISD, new students, and also former students if any return to OISD. 

At the same meeting, many families submitted public comments in support of expanding one of OISD’s bright spots for potential to increase enrollment, Orcas Island Montessori Public (OIMP). OIMP has a long waiting list for first grade and many family requests to add fourth grade as OIMP is currently restricted to grades 1-3 and one teacher. One board member agreed that OIMP expansion should be pursued, as OISD should welcome such promising opportunities to increase enrollment in OISD. However, the board chair found a lack of interest and preference to focus on other priorities among the rest of the board. Instead of pursuing ways to increase enrollment like OIMP expansion, Superintendent Webb offered another solution to budget shortfalls, by directing OASIS teachers to increase their workloads. OASIS is OISD’s highly successful remote learning school with a continual waiting list. OASIS essentially props up the budget for OISD’s brick and mortar students.

Superintendent Webb also presented numbers showing the revenue value per student, in order to calculate budget impact of enrollment loss per student, which appeared to be much lower than previous estimates. Hopefully, OISD will invest more time to determine the accurate revenue loss, whether it includes only state funding or also federal and other sources. Also, the numbers should calculate the revenue loss over multiple years per student, since most students do not leave OISD for only one year but multiple years depending on the grade. In addition, when OISD loses a brick and mortar student, it also loses a seat for OASIS, because the state restricts OASIS to not exceed 50% of total enrollment in the district. The state gives less funding for OASIS students, but still a significant amount bolstering the OISD budget.

Taxpayers put their trust in OISD by approving two levies in the past year, so OISD should reciprocate with very carefully reviewed budget numbers. Similarly, OISD should demonstrate sincere efforts to minimize enrollment losses by strongly pursuing opportunities to add students like OIMP expansion. Asking OASIS teachers to carry a heavier burden is not the best solution to save the school budget.

I kindly request the Sounder and Orcasonian to attend the next OISD board meeting on August 26 to help verify the related details here and provide taxpayers with much needed information on how the recent levies are still not enough to buffer the school budget. In particular, independent eyes are needed to verify the value of revenue per student and the true cost of enrollment loss. A modest funding request was presented for OIMP expansion to add teaching staff in order to add students from its waiting list and add fourth graders. If these students leave OISD, what is the revenue loss compared to the cost of adding staff to retain enrollment? It’s quite a confusing pickle to both have budget cuts due to enrollment losses, while also claiming it costs too much to add staff for a promising opportunity to retain or increase enrollment. Please help with reporting on this so taxpayers can have a truly deeper understanding of OISD’s current budget situation.