School Board Grapples with Budget Issues

— by Ayn Gailey —

The regular School Board Meeting held on Thursday, July 27 covered diverse ground to help school staff prepare for the upcoming school year and pass an Orcas Island School District (OISD) budget accounting for the challenges presented by late revenue figures coming in from the state. (For an earlier story on this challenge, see https://theorcasonian.com/school-district-holds-public-hearing-state-education-budget/  )

COMMUNITY INPUT
New islander, Kevin White, introduced himself as the Booster Club Vice President and OISD Board liaison. According to White:

• last year the Booster Club earned $16,000,
• there will be changes in the volunteer staff,
•  the Booster Club will be working on providing softball clinics with Parks & Rec as well as other programs through the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA).

A community meeting will be held August 23 at 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria to raise awareness of  Booster Club activities. According to White, at the meeting there will be discussion of opportunities for volunteering, helping with events, and sponsor memberships.

SCHOOL STAFF INFORMATION
Open positions include a 0.233 annual FTE Elementary School SAFE Advocate position for the 2017-18 school year and a 0.20 annual FTE Assessment Coordinator for OASIS for the 2017-18 school year.

The district is currently in open bargaining with the Orcas Education Association. According to Superintendent Eric Webb, the initial meeting took place on May 22 when:

• ground rules were established,
• future bargaining dates were set,
• initial issues lists were exchanged,
• and initial proposals were provided to the district from OEA.

Future bargaining dates are Friday, August 4, Tuesday, August 15, Wednesday, Aug 16, Thursday, August 17 and Thursday, August 24. More dates will be added if needed.

The district is also in salary-and-benefit discussions with the Public School Employees of Washington (PSE), which represents the classified (non-teaching) staff of the district. Although the first meeting was held on June 22 and the first proposal was exchanged, the second meeting was postponed due to the district not having the official version of what revenue they will receive (application F-203) from the state Office of Public Instruction. The next discussion has been rescheduled for August 1.

Board member Tony Ghazel asked Superintendent  Webb whether the district is considering making negotiations public with the teachers’ unions. Other districts in the state of Washington have been leaning toward more transparency and Webb stated that it is something they would consider and that they are keeping an eye on the pros and cons of doing so.

SCHOOL BOND
This month, the district formally submitted the resolutions for the School Bond and Levy to the county to be included in the November election. The School Bond, which focuses on the needs of the district, will be in the amount of $10,800,000 for 20 years at an increase of $0.29 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The School Levy, which focuses on field improvements and preparation for the track, will be for six years at $0.11 per $1,000 of assessed value.

GENERAL & SPECIAL BOARD BUSINESS & BUDGET
Board President Janet Brownell announced that the planned October 14 Board Retreat is open to the public and new board members.

The board retired to Executive Session to discuss collective bargaining issues in private. Upon their return to a public session, the budget for next year was presented and Greg White motioned to pass it with Chris Sutton seconding the motion. Ghazel expressed concerns about dipping into the fund balance, “I would like assurances from Eric and Keith [Whitaker, OISD Business Manager] that the number that you want approved is something that will not marginally help the [district] but will critically help and ensure our 750+ students are going to be well served.”

Brownell said that, “Nobody was expecting this outcome from the state budget, which came very late. We will look to be addressing the board’s concerns going forward with the new board members…and it will be a core subject at the board retreat.” Scott also expressed severe reservations,saying, “I ditto what Tony says.” Superintendent Webb replied, saying he agrees that it is critical that the district use the $400k in the fund balance. All voted in favor of passing the new budget.