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Board decides against school expansion

In his report to the Blaine school district, consultant Jack Thompson recommended against expanding the Point Roberts school. �Too many issues, mostly economic, exist to do anything but retain the existing program at Point Roberts at the present time,� he wrote.

The bottom line is that educating a student in Blaine is slightly more than a third cheaper than educating them in Point Roberts. Even with state remote and necessary funding for the Point Roberts school the school district�s general fund already subsidizes the Point Roberts school with close to $100,000 per year and adding more grades would likely inflate that figure. Voters in the school district would also need to approve bond issues to pay for construction of a larger school, which Thompson felt would be �difficult given current economic conditions.�

Thompson may have found a bigger school on the Point is unfeasible, but he did come away from a January 22 community meeting with a clear message. �[The parents] all expressed a desire to be involved,� he wrote in his summary to the Blaine school district board. �There is a general feeling of disengagement by the Point Roberts community from the Blaine school district.� Thompson suggested the board consider a survey of local residents before moving ahead with further educational planning.

Arthur Wilkowski, one of the parents who asked the school board to look at the potential for school expansion, said Thompson�s report was a good starting point for the school district to take a hard look at how to better address the educational needs of Point Roberts students. �He is right that there are many issues about the Point Roberts school and its future,� he said.

�Right now there is no mechanism for generating change.� Wilkowski said his suggestions include a comprehensive review and long-term educational plan for the Point, an advisory committee made up of Point Roberts parents and beefed up outreach to parents on the Point.

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