We Did It! and Orcas School District Begins a New Era

— by Margie Doyle —

This is the reality, not an architect’s rendering — the Orcas Schools campus. An Orcas Issues photo.

The Orcas Community came out en masse to the ribbon cutting ceremonies of the 2012 Bond Reconstruction Project on Aug. 29, a rainy, blustery afternoon.

But the power came back on as dignitaries such as State Senator Kevin Ranker, former and current School Board Members, and current and retired school teachers, came to congratulate and thank those whose efforts made today, the completion of Phase III of the project, a reality.

Scott Lancaster of the Orcas School District Board recalled “the sky-is-falling moment” 10 years ago when work stopped on the “1980s building” because “It was in such bad shape, it was not worth spending any more money on it.”

“What do you think now?” he asked and was met with a roar of cheers, huzzahs, whistles and applause.

School District Superintendent Eric Webb singled out “three groups of people who physically made this happen:

• Butch, Kurt and David of Mahlum Architects for the vision to open the campus:
• Project Manager Liz LeRoy whose oversight and attention to detail  has helped make this happen;
• Tiger Construction Company who started “shovel work” in June 2014 and completed the project, “on time and under budget.”

Supt. Webb also thanked former Supt. Barbara Kline for starting the project and for coming to the opening to support the school.

School Board Member Tony Ghazel spoke of the long time the community has been at work on “such a large project,” and expressed satisfaction that the school is now housed in “safe and healthy buildings.”

Students Jo Gudgell, Landon Carter and Evan King unveil the new plaque.

Senator Ranker thanked the School District for the invitation to come to the event and said, “This was a local project, and it shows what happens when we come together.”

Board Member Chris Sutton recalled being a student at Milton Elementary School when the “80s building” (the main focus of the 2012 bond project) was new. “I’m blown away by the revitalization of this space. Thank you for making this happen,” he told the gathering.

Board President Janet Brownell  praised the Mahlum architectural firm that “went  along for the whole ride” as the bond projects went from the “‘Big Idea,’ crossed over into need and plunged into reality,” with the core of the new plan to connect the spaces from the high school to the Nellie Milton elementary school.

She recalled the previous bond measures, for $34M and $27M that had failed before the passage of the $11.9M bond in 2012.  She credited local architects, facilitators and builders such as Fred Klein and Clyde Duke for building consensus for a Way Forward. And she thanked the many who worked tirelessly, such as Madie Murray, Cathy Ferran and Patricia Slabaugh who showed up to begin again after the failure of the second bond measure. She acknowledged the efforts of State Senator Kevin Ranker to obtain $1M in state funding to side the high school and thus save funding for the bond.

And she thanked the community “who gave us your trust… and had faith that we’d deliver on our promise.”

With that, students Evan King, Landon Carter and Jo Gudgell, from Orcas Elementary, Middle and High Schools, respectively, stepped forward to cut the ribbon on the plaque commemorating the combined efforts behind this project.