Our schools in Long Beach and Ocean Park once served students from preschool through 5th grade. In 2019 we were faced with a “population bubble” in elementary enrollment, requiring classroom adjustments. The district appointed a study group — led by Amy Huntley — to review the situation and make recommendations. That group recommended a “feeder school” concept — Long Beach would handle grades K through 2nd grade, Ocean Park would handle 3rd through 5th grade.

This was originally presented to the public as a temporary solution to overcrowding: Interim Superintendent Scott Fenter stated in a public meeting, in Ocean Park, that this population increase was temporary; the overcrowding would be resolved in two years.

OBSD’s enrollment by student full-tile equivalents neared 1,030 during the 2019-20 school year and currently sits at about 995. Huntley, who is now superintendent, predicted enrollment would not return to those 2019-20 levels anytime soon. So… the population bubble has burst!

Rather than returning to our previous configuration, Superintendent Huntley formally recommended that the board pursue a bond issue, replacing our existing schools with a single “tsunami-safe” elementary school in Ilwaco. That proposal was soundly defeated by the voters.

What many of us what to know is: When will we get our neighborhood elementary schools back? Does Superintendent Huntley have any intention of restoring those schools? Or is she so committed to the “one big school” concept that there is no hope of getting our schools back, under her leadership?

The failed single school bond proposal was supposedly generated by a need for improvements in district buildings. Are those improvements still needed? Will the voters pass a bond issue that includes the feeder school concept? (I doubt it.) These are questions the school board must consider.

Busing students from Chinook to Ocean Park or from Oysterville to Long Beach means that we drive young children past working schools, to one that is more distant. It’s especially disrupting to the very young. I have routinely observed parents getting on the bus, to carry or lead their sleepy kids off the bus, after a long ride home. Bring back our schools, please.

DALE HILL

Ocean Park