To the Editor:
About 15 years ago or so, I wanted to help out my kids’ school, so I joined the Tisbury School PTO. Before long, I found myself as the parent representative for the PTO on the school building committee for the Tisbury School (round 1). I was prepared to work hard, alongside my community, to build a world-class school for many future generations of students. How could it be anything other than a rewarding and exciting experience?
For a while, it was. Though the commitment entailed hundreds of hours of meetings over three years, we pulled together as a family, and each of us embraced our part. (My husband, a Tisbury School administrator at the time, was also on the committee.) My young kids often had to fend for themselves by asking for rides home from practices, or preparing their own dinners on nights when we had meetings. They didn’t mind; they understood the importance of this commitment!
Looking back, I was naive. I assumed that our town would rally behind its school and trust that educators who work and teach in the school every day know what’s best for kids’ education. I believed in the painstaking and thoughtful work of the committee, that we considered all viewpoints, and designed a beautiful school that the town would be tremendously proud of.
I eventually realized that maybe this wasn’t the case.
Though there were plenty of naysayers at the town meeting, the project still passed by a good margin, and went to a vote two weeks later. My kids and I campaigned all day. We were so excited for the future Tisbury School.
It was dark when the polls closed. My kids had homework to do. Still, we waited outside. Our committee chair came out and calmly said we lost by 21 votes. We were stunned. My kids cried. To this day, I cannot think about that moment without feeling queasy.
Our leaders had three days to request a revote or an extension. One reiterated they would not support a project more than $30 million; the town could not afford it. In the end, they voted to end the project and give back the nearly $15 million gift from the state, which would have made our portion less than $32 million.
The school still needed to be rebuilt. That was always a given. The new school design was smaller, and required students to learn in trailers for the two years it was being built. The final cost? More than $80 million.
Will history repeat itself? Will we spend less and get more? Or spend more and get less?
I wonder what Tisbury could have done with an extra $50 million? Voting takes 5 minutes.
Erika Mulvey
Tisbury