Hot off the press this week were two publications focusing on events in Vashon schools: One was The Beachcomber, the other was the Vashon School District Soundings. newsletter.

I read both carefully concerning the bond and the new state standardized math and English tests. Here’s what I came away with regarding testing. The Beachcomber’s headline states, “Opt outs make it ‘hard to draw conclusions from tests.’” Superintendent Soltman said that the students who took the tests performed better than expected given reports ahead of the testing. This left me wondering what is currently expected, and what were those reports that said two-thirds of the students would not meet standards. The percentages of third graders who met standards were in the low 60s. Is this good?

Soundings devoted its whole back page to a performance report. It notes that in VSD, grade 11 math test takers didn’t even reach 60 percent of the district standards.

There’s a disclaimer that says the results should be considered with caution because they were brought down by the high number of opt-outs, who get a 0.

The Beachcomber’s report of the school board public forum does not mention whether there was discussion about why all the opting out or math scores. More time was devoted to facilities recommendations for the upcoming bond.

In Soundings, the district says about 570 kids attend Vashon High School per year. By my calculations, even by voting for the lower priced bond of $25 million, property taxpayers altogether will invest about $2,200 dollars per student per year for 20 years whether or not they use the new facilities.

I’m not against whatever updated facilities we, as a community, want and can afford, but maybe what we need is a bond that invests that amount per student in math in addition to sports.

­— Margaret Heffelfinger