The Vashon Island school board has now removed any Vashon Island High School gym remodel from the upcoming bond issue slated for April.

Last Tuesday night, at a home basketball game in that very gym, the power blinked during the fourth quarter of the varsity boys’ basketball game, and all the lights went out.

It took almost 10 minutes for the antiquated lighting in our 55-year-old gym to come back on and play to resume.

Late in the girls’ varsity game, the power blinked again, and maybe one-third of the lights went out. The referees insisted the game play on given that it was close to 9 p.m.

The next day, on social media, I participated in a conversation with one parent who was astonished that the school board apparently cannot find any way forward to replace our antiquated gym.

The conversation was witnessed by several parents whose kids I know to be commuters.

The school board keeps cutting, cutting, cutting back in an attempt to bring on relentless vocal activist opponents who will likely never approve of what this district and this community needs, no matter how badly needed.

How many island residents have silently fallen away from supporting any school bond when the school board has shown an inability to hang tough and get the entire job done?

And when the Vashon Island School District starts to lose the loyalty of close-knit commuter families who send their children to school here at great expense and effort, when will that loyalty — and those students — ever be regained?

— John Sage