Remote and necessary status granted

By Meg Olson

The Point Roberts primary school has finally been deemed remote and necessary by the state of Washington, qualifying the Blaine school district for extra dollars to keep it going.

“After 12 years of applying, this time we got a unanimous yes,” said primary school principal Nancy Bakarich. The state board of education gave the thumbs up at their June 20 meeting following a report from the remote and necessary committee.

Bakarich said committee chairman Ron Woldeit cited Point Roberts unique situation cut off from the U.S. mainland and the strong support the school had from parents and community members as reasons there needed to be a school in Point Roberts.

The committee had visited the Point in April and heard from parents how the school was vital to preserving community spirit and giving younger children a quality and healthy education. “This was the first year we got a unanimous recommendation from the committee,” Bakarich said.

Bakarich said she and Blaine schools superintendent Gordon Dolman also addressed the board. “We gave them a little geography lesson and talked about some of the issues that have come up since September 11,” she said.
The new status will mean approximately $100,000 a year for the Blaine school district to help offset the cost of operating the school in Point Roberts. ‘It’s more costly for us to run a school at a remote site,” Bakarich said. “This will help us maintain programs at Point Roberts so they will not be facing any cuts.”

Now that the Point Roberts school has qualified as remote and necessary, it will keep the status and the money will keep coming until the school gets big enough to be representative of a tax base that could support a school.

‘We keep the status until enrollment rises above 50, as long as we meet criteria” Bakarich said. The school now has 37
students..

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