Lopez Elementary Seeds for Sale

Lopez Elementary Garden Program is offering seeds for sale.

Click here for the order form.

District Newsletter ~ January 2012

District Newsletter ~ January 2012

Snoopy Wolf newsletter

Click here for the latest edition of the Snoopy Wolf newsletter created by Richard Carter's High School Journalism class.

Elementary Newsletter

Click here for the latest edition of the Elementary Lobos Newsletter.

The Lopez Island Family Resource Center Back Page newsletter is available here.

Lopez School District Addresses Recent Audit Findings

November 2, 2011

Lopez School District recently received an audit report from the Washington State Auditor’s Office for the period September 2008-August 2010.  The audit found the District’s financial statements to accurately represent the District’s financial standing and all funds and balances were found to be appropriately utilized and the school is in general compliance with all applicable state laws and regulations. 

The audit did dentify areas of needed improvement regarding internal controls and efficient checks and balances for the following:

• Select bank accounts
• Personnel and payroll processes
• Employee retirement and insurance benefits
• Preparation of accounting and financial statements

The District has taken the results of the audit very seriously and appreciates the recommendations made by the audit team.  We look at this as an opportunity to further tighten up our procedures and help us with our ongoing commitment to our taxpayers. 

Following the audit the District has designed enhancements to aggressively address the observations of the audit team and further the district’s ongoing efforts to create an efficient Business Office with reduced staff time to which the office has been pared in budget reduction efforts over the last few years.  Systems and procedures are being developed and refined to provide recommended separation of duties, and checks and balances that include the superintendent and other administrative personnel have been initiated.

These enhancements and corrective actions are ongoing and monitored closely by the School Board and senior management. Another audit is scheduled for the Spring of 2012. We have taken significant action to address the observations and findings of the audit team.  We want to continue to handle our taxpayer dollars wisely, safely, and in full compliance with rules and regulations and best accounting practices.

A complete copy of the audit report is available in the district office.

Grant to fund new roof for elementary school

Lopez Island School District was the recent recipient of a grant from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for the purpose of making repairs to a roof on the elementary school that is in need of attention. Entitled an Urgent Repair Grant, the district was awarded $100,000, which is the maximum amount possible under this competitive grant. OSPI received 198 applications and awarded 63 to schools around the state for making urgent repairs to facilities to enhance health and safety, and/or prolong the life of a school facility.  Twenty-three of the 63 awards were for the full amount of $100,000.

Lopez will use the funds to address potential and ongoing student health and safety liability, as well as overall facility degradation caused by a deteriorating flat roof over its elementary school. The roof was installed in 1978 and is well beyond its projected life. In the winter of 2009 an independent facility group hired to survey the district’s facility needs, cited the repair of the flat roof as a “major safety issue” and recommended that the safety and health issues therein be addressed when the district could. The potential damage to interior wiring, HVAC ducting, fire-suppressant piping, and other infrastructure elements, as well as potential damage to classroom and food services facilities located under the roof area, have been an ongoing concern to the district, stated District Maintenance Director Denny Jardine.

“We are very appreciative of this opportunity to address this facility issue”, said Superintendent Bill Evans. “The money for ongoing repairs has been coming out of the general fund, which is money that has potentially not been going to students and educational materials and supplies. With this grant we will be able to reduce the drain on the general fund for those band-aid repairs we have been making.”

Work on the roof will likely take place in the summer of 2012.

Letter to the Editor

Lopez School Staff Deserve An Atta-Boy/Girl

Whereas other communities around the country may be “waiting for Superman,” I have to tell you that on Lopez Island, at Lopez School, one does not have to look very far. In the movie by the same name, one of the featured “experts” bemoaned the fact that by his observations, education in general was going to heck in a hand-basket in this country and he largely attributed that to the lack of quality educational staff in schools. At Lopez School we have a team of dedicated, highly skilled, and student-focused educators that are doing the job of Supermen day after day, with every student and every job assignment which is placed in front of them. The level of commitment to do “what is best for children” is amazing and represents a true gift to the Lopez community. 

One of the manifestations of this commitment to students is clearly evident in the sacrifices and collaborative efforts that all staff made to address last Spring’s unfortunate action by the state legislature to reduce employee salaries by 1.9% and administrative salaries by 3%. Without threatening to strike, picketing, or other harmful actions to voice obvious frustrations and anger, Lopez staff made collective sacrifices that enabled the district to build a balanced budget that greatly reduced significant direct negative impact to the classrooms and students. The teaching and other certificated staff accepted the new (reduced) state salary schedule without flinching, and also gave up a much valued day of inservice, for a total sacrifice of 4.4 days of pay. Ten-month classified staff volunteered to give up 3.6 days of paid work during non-student days, and twelve-month classified staff volunteered to take 5 non-pay furlough days during the year. The newly hired administration accepted contracts that represented significantly less salary than the legislated 3% reduction for administrators would have called for. Despite these sacrifices, the sense of enthusiasm for the work, and love for young people as one walks our school hallways, is palpable. Lopez School is a great place to be!

That these sacrifices by staff were voluntarily made and done with such a generous spirit of collaboration and commitment to students makes me immensely proud and humbled to be the leader of the Lopez Schools. I want to publicly thank the staff for their generosity. You are serving your community admirably!

Bill Evans

Superintendent of Lopez Island School District

Volunteering at Lopez School