Vashon Park District and Vashon Island School District have done the right thing to step back and reconsider terminating the Vashon Commons — a decades-long agreement between the two agencies which has resulted in a flowering of youth sports culture on Vashon.

Now, more than ever, it is necessary for our island kids to have ways to play and bond and explore with others who share their interests, while being mentored by caring community leaders.

Vashon’s sports clubs — helmed by tireless volunteers — are all examples of the kind of extracurriculars that literally save lives, providing not only great fun but crucial social-emotional support to their participants.

Over the years, the Vashon Commons has helped make that kind of support available to all kids, regardless of their families’ incomes.

It has been a kind of Vashon miracle — one that actually does its part to fulfill the “Vashon Promise” detailed in the school district’s new strategic plan: “Every student is welcomed, known and treasured, and graduates confident and competent to thrive in a future they imagine.”

The strategic plan (see page 9) places great emphasis on equitable access — something else that the Vashon Commons has been doing for decades.

There is no reason why the low, low fees to students and organizations made possible by the Commons should not stay in place. After all, islanders have proven, time and time again, that they are willing to support stellar programs for youth that are funded by levy dollars paid to Parks and Schools (see page 9).

The strategic plan also places great emphasis on “strong partnerships and collective accountability” as being important to Vashon youth, and here too, those words apply to the concept behind the Vashon Commons — as well as the current kerfuffle over the ill-advised proposal to terminate the Commons without extensive and sincere consultation with its stakeholders.

We shouldn’t forget that the school board was poised, in fact, to have the first read of a motion on Feb. 10 to exit the Commons without seeking this kind of community input, and possibly pass that motion at its March 10 meeting.

We’re glad that didn’t happen.

We hope that the school board will hold themselves accountable for that error, and have the humility to learn from this lesson.

Because despite the plan to move back from the idea of terminating the Commons, we still have another concern about a possible course of action to be taken by VISD and VPD: that they will keep the Commons, but still decide to turn over the mechanics of renting Vashon’s public spaces to Facilitron — a profit-motivated, Silicon Valley-based technology company, described at a school board meeting by its own representative as the ”Airbnb of facilities.”

If that happens, Facilitron will then begin to siphon off approximately 10% of the money collected from Vashon Commons users. That, too, we believe, would be unfortunate.

Call us cynical, but the company’s “service” of providing regular cost-benefit analysis to its users seems to us, quite frankly, to be yet another sales opportunity for them.

Fees must be kept low, so all island kids can participate and find their passions. It’s the Vashon way, and also, now part of the “Vashon Promise.”