Yes for Schools Committee
PO Box 942
Eastsound, WA 98245
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Yes for Schools Committee
PO Box 942
Eastsound, WA 98245
| Home |
|---|
| Bond Summary |
| Board Letter |
| Common Questions |
| Larson Questions |
| Additional Info |
| Register to Vote |
| 2005 Site Report |
| 2005 Engineering |
| 2009 Energy Audit |
| Enrollment History |
| Bond Fact Sheet |
For five years we have been studying the condition of our buildings. Thanks to the many experts who have worked with us, and the many committees we have all served on, we know what needs to be done to our facilities for the future health and safety of our students and we know that it will never cost less than it does now.
In five years of study we have carefully considered the needs of all of our students and of the programs that serve them. We have looked at enrollment trends, and preschools, spaces needed for English Language Learners, special education, Readiness To Learn, Farm to Cafeteria, Title 1, technology, and vocational or Career and Technical Education. Over five years, we have looked at every class and every program and carefully calculated the numbers of students who use our spaces now and will into the future.
From our experts, we know how much the needed work will cost and that it will never cost less than it does now. That cost is 54 cents per thousand of assessed value. The cost may be less than 54 cents per thousand, depending on the final interest rate. Given the current market, our estimate of 5.5% interest is likely to be less and so the cost may well be less than 54 cents per thousand.
For 54 cents per thousand we will get a facility that totals about the same square footage as it does now but redesigned to be more efficient and long lasting. Spaces that we have now will be reconfigured and repositioned so that vocational or Career Technical Educational classrooms that are scattered about will be collected under one roof, sharing spaces and equipment which they cannot do now.
For 54 cents per thousand we will get repairs to the elementary the high school and the old gym and we will replace and reconfigure the library, middle school, woodshop, home economics room, music room, cafeteria, kitchen, and shared middle school and high school spaces.
For 54 cents per thousand, we will get excellent facilities that will be energy efficient, long lasting structures serving our students well for many years to come. I predict that when this project is done, our island community will be proud of our campus as we are now of our students' performance.
You can be sure that we will spend 54 cents per thousand very carefully because we have demonstrated that we can. In five years, we have built our reserve fund from less than 10 thousand to over 400 thousand through sound financial management. We are not wealthy, but we are financially healthy and therefore able to employ many members of our community. A financially strong and academically excellent school district is an enormous asset to our community and a very good investment.
Please join me in voting YES for the future of our students and of our community.
Barbara Kline
Orcas Island School Superintendent
Janet Knowles' argument is this: Should we spend $27 million expanding the OISD facilities for non-traditional students and off-island students?
The building program is "expanding" by only a few thousand feet to increase campus effectiveness. I will repeat the offers made by our administration and school board that we are happy to show Ms. Knowles the building program so she could better understand that what is being asked is not an expansion (other than in the cafeteria and CTE) -- but a replacement of existing buildings, as well as to explain the OSPI Enrollment figures. I hope that she will take us up on our offer for the sake of accuracy.
Ms. Knowles point: "The $27 million building plan assumes a growing enrollment in the OISD." is not correct. The bond plan will replace the failing facilities for our CURRENT enrollment. The bond is needed for our current student population. And to replace WHAT WE ALREADY have -- is the price of the bond.
Janet Brownell
Orcas Island School Board Member
While we certainly appreciate all opinions about the bond, when opinion is stated as fact -- we hope to solicit responses from people who know what's really going on. Here is Business Manager Keith Whitaker's response to a letter recently questioning "transparency."
ACCURACY IS ESSENTIAL TO INFORMED DEBATE
There are significant inaccuracies and wrong assumptions in Janet Knowles guest column regarding transparency in the school bond process. Her conclusions are not based in fact, and betray a lack of understanding of the issues in question.
The data she attributes to me were actually taken from the financial report provided to the Board at the May 12 meeting, prepared by Ben Thomas of Educational Service District 189. The statistic '395 students', though it is in that Board report, does not refer to the entire enrollment of the District - not even all of the 'real' students, as she calls them. In her calculations, she simply eliminates the entire enrollment of OASIS, despite the fact that nearly half of the OASIS students are Orcas residents, as 'real' as the students in the District's other four schools, and represent more than ten percent of our total enrollment.
Our actual total 'on-island' enrollment was 473 at that meeting time, only about a half dozen lower than it was five years ago. It is higher now.
I am a relentless proponent of transparency, and I am committed to accuracy, as well. An informed discussion of the difficult issues that face school districts in this state and, in particular, this community, is not well-served by the use of unnecessarily inflammatory language, or careless assumptions. Consider a statement that Ms. Knowles made in a letter to the editor in 2008, in which she stated that the District was trying to 'pass a 500% levy increase'. In fact, the district's levy authority is set by state law and is based on a fixed percentage of the overall District budget - a levy increase of more than a few percent is not possible. Regardless of prior experience as a school business manager or board member, one interested in getting the facts right would do more research than attending one board meeting and pulling a couple of numbers out of a single report, before making statements such as were made in this guest column.
Ms. Knowles suggests that we don't really need the middle school and can simply absorb the middle school students into the elementary and high school buildings. Even if it were possible to find enough empty classrooms (which it isn't), this 'logic' completely ignores the fact that the majority of the middle school complex that needs replacing is made up of common areas used by the entire school population, including the Library, the Voc. Ed. classrooms, the woodshop, the Home Ec. room, the music room and stage, and the cafeteria.
She also wrongly attributes the need for replacement of the middle school to lack of maintenance. Although the District had been forced by budget constraints to reduce the budget for maintenance and grounds below ideal levels, this is not the reason the buildings need to be replaced. The truth is, the buildings did not even meet all of the codes in force at the time they were constructed and they are currently out of compliance with the uniform building code, the standards for fire-resistance, seismic codes and standards, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The buildings were built with less expensive materials and corners were cut. This happened due to the failure of a more substantial bond that would have built a complex that echoed the construction of the Nellie Milton Elementary School, built in 1947. Instead, these 1970's buildings were constructed to last 15 to 20 years and we have stretched that to 30. We have been informed by architects and engineers that the buildings are at the end of their useful life.
I would like to discuss the details of OISD's enrollment history, the state of the buildings and the details of the bond with any community member who has questions or concerns about these issues. Continued accurate and informed conversation, inquiry and debate are essential and beneficial to the District and to the community.
Keith Whitaker, Business Manager
Orcas Island School District
Accuracy and Transparency in School Bond Process Paramount
I'd like to clear up a few things that have appeared in the Sounder. Keith Whitaker has responded very effectively online, and in the paper to Janet Knowles opinion piece and corrected her misunderstanding of the data. I'd like to add a couple of things to his response.
The figures that the ESD and the school district work from are a snapshot at any given moment in the school year, of our enrollment. The final figures that create our funding source from the state are audited and verified by the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Education (OSPI). I can see how someone coming to a single board meeting and taking away what can sometimes be a huge packet of data, could easily misunderstand the numbers. It is complex, and we are fortunate to have a staff and administration that keeps impeccable track and care of this data so that our district is fully accountable. I, or any other board member would be happy to go over these packets with anyone who has a question about them. I'd appreciate the chance to do so, so misinformation doesn't get presented to the public as fact.
The other item I'd like to correct is Mr. Ambler's letter. It is not the heating system in the middle school that is failing. It is the entire system of the buildings. Those issues have been sufficiently addressed elsewhere, and the full documentation of the issues is available at the school district office.
The business manager position was not newly created. The school district used to have a full time person years ago. Complexity in state accounting and reporting caused the district to contract with the services of the Educational Service District in Anacortes for business management. It was with the understanding that returning to a local manager at some point would be in the best interest of the district. The manager we have been sharing with sometimes 2-3 other school districts could only be here 1-2 days a week, with a lot of travel time, and simply not enough hours to get everything done we would have liked to. Keith Whitaker was not a sitting board member when he took the position as part time business manager. He resigned from the Orcas Island School Board on March 15th. Following his resignation, he applied for the new part time business manager. A committee composed of the members of the Budget Advisory Committee and district office staff interviewed the three applicants and selected Keith as the new part time business manager. The board approved his appointment May. This is not a new position, it is a transition to local service as opposed to more expensive remote service. I'm sorry that Ms. Knowles and Mr. Ambler have gotten the wrong impression of these things they have mentioned. Please contact me if you'd like to discuss anything else.
Scott Lancaster
Orcas Island School District Board Chair
For more factual responses to opinion pieces, please go to these links: