Superintendent’s mid-March school update

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 25, 2026

By Brady Smith

Superintendent of Lopez Island School District

March 25, marks the 115th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. On that morning, a fire broke out on the top floors of the Asch Building in New York City. Because management had locked the exit doors, and fire escapes were flimsy or non-existent, 146 garment workers — mostly young immigrant women — perished. Many victims died from fire, smoke inhalation or by jumping to their deaths to escape the flames. The tragedy sparked widespread public outrage and led to a massive overhaul of labor laws. It resulted in the creation of the Factory Investigating Commission, which pioneered modern safety standards, many of which are implemented in schools, including better working conditions, mandatory fire drills, requirement for outward-swinging exit doors and enhanced fire sprinkler requirements. As a longtime school administrator charged with the safety of thousands of students and staff over my career, and as a proud union retiree on a partial pension (that provides me with a modest monthly income that enables me to work as half-time superintendent), I feel it is important that we remember this tragic event and celebrate how it resulted in reforms that we all benefit from today.

Classified Staff Appreciation Week

I also want to appreciate all of our classified employees — the office coordinators, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, food service workers, our nurses and health room assistant, our custodians — and a special thank you to our librarian and the chapter president of our classified employee union, PSE, Deirdre Steinbrueck. Through Deirdre’s leadership, PSE has actively collaborated with the district to seek creative solutions to our budgetary challenges.

Head Maintenance

One example of our collaboration with PSE is the Memorandum of Agreement to allow us to use volunteers for this year to fulfill the duties of the Head Maintenance and Grounds position following Denny’s retirement. We have saved some money this year because Jesse Hammond, Jimmy Burt and I have volunteered to address maintenance issues, coordinate school work parties and negotiate school-friendly agreements with local businesses to not only attend to maintenance, but also to address some overdue facilities issues. Arturo Rendon, father of a Lopez School graduate, through his business ArtWorks, is donating a significant amount of the labor to complete a complete makeover of the grounds, focusing now on the secondary parking lot. Hobi Plumbing is arranging to provide regular maintenance of our entire plumbing system at a reduced rate. Sage Building Solutions is taking on our HVAC repair using and donating some labor, so we won’t have to pay an off-island company to send repair technicians. Wlllemsen Construction has collaborated on several construction projects, as have Lopez Island Electric and North Sound Communications. Sunset Builders Supply consistently offers financial support, and Island Shine is working up a school-friendly estimate to do a soft wash roof cleaning to pretty up the place in advance of our graduation ceremony. Many more local businesses donate and hold round-up campaigns, and many local business owners volunteer. Thank you to all the local businesses that support our school!

Next School Work Party

Our next School Work Party is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. At the request of past volunteers, I plan to publicize a list of projects in advance so volunteers can know in advance and come prepared. Mark your calendar and keep an eye out for specific projects, or just come on May 2, ready to work!

Grants for this school year

We also continue to work hard to seek grants to address our budget challenges. Our Grants (and District Communications) person, Sara Wysocki, has worked on grant applications all year. We just received a one-time $200K Healthy Kids grant to replace our ailing walk-in cooler in the kitchen, $15K to continue teacher professional development on Mastery-Based Learning and we have landed recurring federal funding (which we were not sure if we could expect this year) for Special Education through IDEA Part B and the federal ESEA Consolidated Grant. Special Education Coordinator Mary Fordham submitted our Safety Net application, which reimburses for some of the costs the district incurs to provide mandated Special Education supports, and we will find out at the end of the year if we receive our request. And former school board member and Lopez School alum Chris Greacen has applied for and landed significant grant funding for a large-scale rooftop solar array that, once active, is estimated to reduce the school’s electric bill by between $20-25K annually. And there is a vision for a phase two which, when complete, would provide battery storage to further reduce energy costs, complement the school’s Red Cross status as an island-wide evacuation site and contribute to island resiliency.

Looking ahead

Our agreement with PSE to use volunteer labor for the Head Maintenance position is for one year, so we anticipate hiring for that position for next year. And we will need to hire a Spanish teacher and hope to increase the FTE of teachers who are involuntarily part-time so we can offer a greater array of courses (including hopefully offering woodshop and culinary classes again). So, grants and volunteers and generous local business partners are part of the solution, but we are still facing a very challenging budget environment next year.

There is a lot of information available about state funding and the unique challenges of small districts like ours. Currently, seven Washington state districts are in “binding conditions,” including Marysville and Bellevue. An additional 18 districts (including Lopez Island) are considered in financial distress, and 40 more are experiencing significant financial hardship. The Legislature approved an incremental increase to the levy lid imposed by the McCleary decision, so Lopez residents will vote whether to renew the school’s Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) levy in August. This is not a new levy but a renewal of the school levy that comes up every four years. This will not make up for the roughly $360K of Lopez voter-approved levy funds that we have NOT been allowed to collect each year since the levy lid was implemented in 2018 (an estimated total loss of $2.9M), but would allow us to collect all funds allowable under the new incremental levy lid lift over the next four years.

Even in these trying times, good things are happening!

Our school board has updated policies regarding Digital Media Literacy and Internet Safety, the CTAC Committee has finalized an AI Code of Conduct, we continue with our no cell phones in class policy and the Lopez Island Family Resource Center hosted a well-attended parent workshop around internet safety and cell phone use.

We continue to plan for the 85th anniversary of the “Big School” when the four one-room schoolhouses were consolidated into the site we are at now on School Road. The weekend events on Oct. 10 and 11 will be a Homecoming of all alum, staff, parents and grandparents, student employers, and any and all community members who have supported our school. Save the date and let your friends and family know!

International student travel this spring! Seven students will travel to Nicaragua, and four will travel to Japan on student international travel trips this spring break. The Nicaragua group is planning two days of service in El Porvenir, where we will be sleeping in hammocks, so if you have a lightweight camping hammock that we can borrow, please let me know! The district will once again partner with The Gathering of Eagles to host participants in the canoe journey, with the canoe landing scheduled for around 1 p.m. at Spencer Spit on May 16 and a potluck that evening at 5 p.m. at Lopez Center.

Spring sports are underway! Our amazing elementary office coordinator and coach extraordinaire, Karrie Warner, stepped forward to lead our golf team, and Shane Patrick and many, many assistants will coach our large and growing track team!

And what an amazing LIPTSA Talent Show this past weekend! It truly is incredible the number of talented young people on our little island, from musicians and dancers and singers and stand-up comedians to academic scholarship winners to visual artists to multisport athletes on Lopez teams that consistently make the post-season and, in the case of graduating senior Betty Burt, are one of 10 seniors across the state selected to play in the 1B/2B Girls Basketball Washington State Coaches Association Senior All-Star game. Go, Lobos!

Happy Women’s History Month and happy St. Patrick’s Day!