Orcas School’s 2009-10 budget may have a sunnier future than the board once thought.

Faced with a significant cut in the state’s I-728 funding and a decrease in local tax revenue and donations, the school board has been toiling away at filling a $410,000 shortfall. Worst case scenario, eight teaching positions would need to be cut – a decision that no one on the board wants to make.

But during the school board meeting last week, a light at the end of the tunnel emerged: superintendent Barbara Kline is proposing a budgeting concept that would start the year off with a full and robust middle and high school fall schedule, with the option of cutting the winter and spring classes if additional funding doesn’t come through. The students would finish their course work online to receive full credit.

“We’re working in the dark right now because we don’t know what the enrollment for the year will be until October,” Kline said. “By doing this, we can start the year safely within budget, and then cut programs later in the year if we have to.”

“It’s a roll of the dice, but I think it’s an educated roll of the dice,” board chair Janet Brownell told the Sounder.

Board member Charlie Glasser told Kline he thought it was an “enormously good idea.” The other board members agreed, and asked Kline to work up the numbers. The board discussed the proposal at a budget workshop on June 30, after the Sounder went to press.

The school is also receiving $190,000 in federal stimulus money for special ed, which it had not planned for. The Orcas Island Education Foundation and the Orcas Island Community Foundation is hoping to raise $100,000 for the school; it has $30,000 left to go.

“This has the potential to make up a significant portion of what is missing,” Kline said.

The board also heard from architects Carlos Sierra and Dale Martin, who completed the design requirements for school upgrades should the February 2010 bond get passed. It includes a career and technical education (CTE) building, and improvements to the elementary, middle, and high school buildings. The report is the result of brainstorming with the school’s bond committee and listening to the needs of students and teachers. The total bill comes to $28 million, which is considerably more than the board had planned to ask for in the bond.

“We need to present this as a community bond, not an Orcas School bond,” board member Tony Ghazel said. “The CTE will be for community and adult learning too.”

Glasser pressed the need for an analysis of the current market to see what sort of deals the school could get with contractors. The school is committed to using local contractors and subcontractors.

The board plans to set a final number for the bond and begin the process of drawing up schematics.

“There is plenty of time to scale back items and cut square footage,” Sierra said. “I think it’s a $25 million bond; I’ve always thought that.”

In executive session, the school board hired a new K-8 principal to replace Tom Gobeske. Kyle Freeman from Bainbridge Island will move to Orcas this summer with his wife and two boys. He has already been in communication with the elementary school, and will start his new position on August 1. Watch for an interview with Freeman in the Islands’ Sounder in the coming weeks.