School board moves closer to approving plant garden

La Conner School board members toured native plant gardens on Swinomish Reservation last week, a walking tour that appears to have brought the district one step closer to installing something similar as an outdoor hands-on classroom on campus.

A school garden project in partnership with the Swinomish Department of Environmental Protection and Between Two Worlds indigenous science program has cultivated growing support since the concept was introduced several weeks ago by proponents Jen Willup and Morgan Brown.

“The board is 100% supportive,” the panel’s president, Susie Deyo, said during the sit-down portion of a study session that followed the May 8 tour. “We look forward to working out an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Swinomish and look forward to it coming back to us as an action item.”

The garden will be an opportunity for students to learn first-hand the nutritional and medicinal benefits of plant species native to the Pacific Northwest. It also provides for tactile learning opportunities at a time when budget shortfalls may reduce course offerings.

“My concern,” Deyo said, “is that we have hands-on education to give our students experience and a taste of possible careers.”

Superintendent Will Nelson, who will add a Career and Technical Education administrative role next year as part of district belt-tightening in response to projected $1.5 million in budget cuts, said career and technology courses are of significant benefit to students.

“They’re great,” he said, “because they’re prepping students for what could be next in their lives.”

Board member Loran James concurred.

“I’m still thankful,” he reflected, “that when I went to La Conner, I was able to work on small and large motors and work with wood. I still work with wood.”

District finance chief David Cram, meanwhile, will craft a budget reflecting a K-12 enrollment dip to just under 500 students, a decline of over 100 since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.

Enrollment levels determine the level of state funding support.

The board is hopeful the popular on-site Braves Club after-school program can survive the budget knife.

“It’s a Cadillac program,” Deyo noted. “There are working parents and they need it. It stays open until 6 o’clock. Maybe we can run it until 5:30. We have to do something. We have families who are choiced-in (with La Conner Schools) and maybe wouldn’t want to come back if there’s no Braves Club.”

The projected enrollment decline and corresponding budget crunch has already taken its toll on district personnel. Deyo said that reductions in force will eliminate four full-time positions and impact the roles of eight staff members either in layoffs or reduced assignments.

“It’s very said,” Deyo lamented, “that we’re having to do this RIF (Reduction in Force).”

Nelson said the district remains committed to developing a budget that best serves students and staff based on available resources.

“We’re looking at all options,” he said. “We’ll continue these discussions while we work through the budget.”