LOCAL POLITICS - WHY TRANSPARENCY MATTERS
You know when Facebook pops up memories for you to look at? From the past year? Stories? Posts? My one year memories are dedicated posts to baby anticipation as we celebrated a dear family friend about to give birth, and Justicia Para Estudiantes.
Two births. Two different events.
A marathon.
Our town hall, February 7, 2023 was held in Poulsbo, Washington at Vibe Coworks. There were so many of us in attendance. I remember sweating it out. Would folks come? Participate? Who would believe our stories? What would happen afterwards?
Kinda like giving birth.
It is nearly one year. I write about the past year in present and past tense because it moves through the time continuum like good memories and trauma stored all in the same place. Community rallied. Community believed. Community held together. It also brought great pains, stress, angst, unanswered calls for justice, and an investigation that wasn’t an investigation.
A year later a bond is up for vote in North Kitsap School District. A bond worth approximately $264 million dollars. That’s right. And guess what? We are back to where we started. Despite competent and good minds working on this project, it failed to include one of our schools on Tribal lands - why?
When the question is asked, “why” - the answers vary, and blame shifting occurs, and then its mostly good statements come out.” Why?” I ask, along with a chorus of others.
One of our proposed seven solutions was this: “ 7. An education equity council will review the equity concern forms, discuss solutions to equity concerns, implement solutions, advise the school administration and school board, and develop pathways to understanding on behalf of students and the district.”
The slogan for the District is “All in for All Students.”
I go on to write in 2023, “ Along with creating a sense of belonging, the solutions build important frameworks for trust among the district, the Latino community and other communities of color. When the Kitsap County Health Department declared racism a public health crisis in 2021, the county recognized our situation. Loneliness and a lack of belonging are common threads for children of all national origins and races in this post pandemic world. Our urgent desire for unity, coupled with practical solutions, supports this community in a world that is increasingly fragmented.
Kitsap County students are asking our generation to provide safety, learning opportunities, and model inclusion, not racism. Let us follow their lead and work together.”
Let’s do better. Let’s draft a bond which is beneficial for all students, and let’s support one another.
We are still at it a year later.
Resources and Articles:
https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2024/01/26/signs-opposed-to-north-kitsap-school-bond-subject-of-investigation/72371549007/
https://nksdbond.com
https://www.facebook.com/vote4NKSD/
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=690044049983762&id=100069345183901&mibextid=WC7FNe