In Snoqualmie Valley, a bond measure on the Feb. 8 ballot to rebuild a local middle school failed by one vote. On Vashon, ours passed by nine.
It’s been said several times, but it deserves repeating: If you care about your community, it’s a good idea to vote.
Islanders, though, did turn out in large numbers, and as a result, a vision that was first articulated seven years ago is about to come to fruition. A new high school classroom building — designed by a team led by local architect Brian Carter — will soon begin to take shape. The timeline is ambitious: School district officials expect to break ground by summer 2012.
Support for the measure was broad. Still, as School Board Chair Laura Wishik points out in her commentary on this page, the taxes to pay for the bond — an estimated $680 a year for the owner of a $450,000 home — will prove onerous for some. We hope those Islanders who are truly struggling will find resources to help them meet these costs.
We also hope some healing can begin to take place between those who played key roles in the “yes” and “no” campaigns — a difference in opinion that sometimes carried an edge. Either way, it’s time to move on and attend to the business now at hand — supporting our school district in designing and building a new high school campus that will provide for our students’ changing educational needs and to do so without the cost overruns that plague so many large public projects.
The district is getting off to a good start, under the able direction of Superintendent Michael Soltman and Capital Facilities Manager Eric Gill, an experienced architect himself. The district, for instance, was able to get a waiver from the state requirement to hire the general contractor who submits the lowest bid. Instead, district officials will look for a contractor who has the best qualifications — among them, a commitment to hire Vashon-based subcontractors whenever feasible.
Gill also sees the project as an opportunity to tap into the remarkable energy on Vashon around green technologies, advocated in particular by an ad-hoc group called Island Green Tech, a self-described incubator of cutting-edge manufacturing ideas.
There’s remarkable talent on Vashon. We hope the district finds a way to meaningfully embrace it — to give not just a nod to our local talent but to engage Island builders, designers and craftspeople in substantive ways. At the same time, it’s important that Islanders step up and weigh in whenever possible about the direction of this project.
This new school will be with us for a long time. Let’s work hard and cooperatively to make sure it’s a project that reflects Vashon values and will stand the test of time.
