To the Editor:
At its Nov. 3 meeting, the school committee will consider a major change to how the $300 million–plus high school renovation and addition project will be approved. Instead of requiring each town’s approval through town meetings and elections, the proposal would replace that process with a single Island-wide vote — where a simple majority could commit all six towns, even those voting against it.
At meetings I’ve attended about the project, school officials have said that it would need to pass the high bar of approval by all six towns. That’s not unreasonable, given the magnitude of the project and its long-term impact on town budgets across the Island.
The town-by-town process ensures that residents of each community, in their respective town meetings, can discuss the project in detail. High school officials can explain the need and benefits and answer questions. Most importantly, each town’s voters can decide whether to commit millions of dollars over the next 30 years to this important project. That’s small-town democracy in action — messy at times, but deeply meaningful.
Here in Tisbury, we face unique challenges. We recently invested $82 million in a new Tisbury School, and 14 percent of our annual budget already goes to debt service — a figure that would rise to nearly 20 percent if the high school project proceeds. Our average tax bill is $13,552, the highest on the Island, while our per capita income is $30,707, the lowest. Under the regional agreement, Tisbury would be responsible for about $50 million of the high school debt, or roughly $3 million a year for the next 30 years. To absorb that new burden, we would likely need to raise property taxes by 8 percent or more, or make deep cuts to existing programs — possibly even to the Tisbury School itself. That would also leave little capacity for other critical capital projects, such as a new town hall, parks and recreation improvements, stormwater and wastewater upgrades, or unforeseen emergencies.
This financial reality must be weighed against the importance of the high school project to the Island as a whole — and the fact that after years of effort, we have finally secured significant state funding that could be lost if the project is delayed or rejected. There are high stakes all around.
But these are exactly the kinds of detailed discussions and vigorous debates we should have at our 2026 town meeting — the forum we use every year to decide even the smallest expenditures. Here, we’re talking about a $3 million annual obligation for 30 years — nearly $100 million in total — and the school committee is now considering whether to bypass that process in favor of a single Island-wide vote decided by simple majority.
The school committee should honor its commitment to the town-by-town process. Changing course now would risk public trust and give the impression that the committee is avoiding the hard questions that come with local scrutiny. Earning the support of each town may be difficult, but it will make the project stronger — and unite, rather than divide, the Island.
Rick Homans
Tisbury
Wow. Just wow. The Regional agreement has this process in it and now you want to say that the committee must go down the path of 12 successful votes in order to achieve a successful project instead of one. Perhaps you have forgotten how things went in Tisbury a few short years ago that cost the town of Tisbury an additional 50M. Why oh why would the other towns risk the fact that Tisbury got theirs and now control the fate of the whole project. This project is the definition of regional. Why shouldn’t all votes for the high school be done regionally, even the operating budget. 2 short years ago the high school faced a budget crisis when West Tisbury voted down the operating budget over a turf field. We need to move forward and behave as an island and not local fiefdoms when it comes to items like this. We need more regional, not less.
Comments are closed.