by BARB SKOTTE

PTSA president

Through a combination of declining enrollment, cost increases, state underfunding and, yes, past instances of spending beyond our means, our school district and many others are facing record shortfalls and being forced to consider significant cuts. I believe our current school board is committed to solving the budget issues in a responsible and creative manner, but the board can only do so much. Inflationary factors are outside its control, and legislative change takes time. However, we all can consider enhancing enrollment through outreach to our friends and neighbors.

In small school districts like ours, each child makes a huge difference to the financial health of our district, since much state funding is on a “per student” basis. We cannot easily address situations where a family can no longer afford to live on our beautiful, but expensive, island, or where a child with unique needs cannot thrive in the public schools. But when I look around our island, I see many great kids (with many great parents) who I wish my daughter could get to know better at school. We are an island where individualism is valued, especially in our choices of how we educate our kids. This is our right – but we also need to reflect on how our choices impact our community.

I understand the attraction of seeking to educate a child in a setting with other like-minded parents. But by choosing the public school, I’m giving my daughter the opportunity to learn to get along with all of her neighbors – whether we worship in the same place, vote the same way, or speak the same language. I also feel happy that we support a safety-net for those less fortunate than us. We can form a true community – this is the promise, and the challenge, of a public school education.

Of course, the onus is not just on parents to seek ways to make a public school education work for their kids. Our schools need to find ways to respond to the concerns of parents who seek alternatives. We must honor a parent’s concerns regarding their child’s learning style. We all have to be creative and realize it’s no longer enough to think that our past methods are good enough.

Each of us involved with our schools needs to emphasize all that we have. For a district our size, our offerings of AP classes, and in the areas of music, art, athletics and dance, are truly incredible. Many very talented people are working hard to continue to provide these opportunities, but if enrollment continues to decline, they cannot be sustained without even further private fundraising. I hope we all do whatever possible to preserve our programs, by supporting OIEF’s ongoing fundraising efforts, but also by seeing the value in and choosing our public schools for our children whenever possible.

Barb Skotte is PTSA President and lives in Eastsound.