The following letter was sent to the West Tisbury selectmen.

At our regularly scheduled budget review committee hearing on Thursday, Jan. 26, we heard the presentation of the up-Island regional school district and the Chilmark School budgets. We discussed these budgets as well as the contents of newspaper reportage on a West Tisbury committee proposal presented to the West Tisbury selectmen calling for Chilmark to pay the costs of the Chilmark School. We recognize from the reporting that the West Tisbury selectmen did not approve the proposal. We note that we have not received the report directly and are relying upon the reporting for our information.

Based on the reporting of the committee’s proposal, we are either misled or confused. It appears that the recommendation is that Chilmark alone pay the costs of a school that is part of a regional district. We find this to be problematic, at best. We don’t understand why Chilmark would assume the total operating cost of the Chilmark School while West Tisbury does not assume the total operating cost of the West Tisbury School.

Further, it is not clear that the interests of the entire district and both schools and their populations are being considered.

We would recommend that the up-Island regional school district work with the superintendent of schools to develop an effective and comprehensive enrollment program to attract students to the Chilmark School so that the district can fulfill its mission of providing quality education to the children of the district’s towns.

As the two schools offer the ability to provide complementary educational environments that recognize children’s different needs, the fincom supports Chilmark going forward with a good faith effort involving the three towns of the district to ensure quality education for all students in the district’s schools.

We share the concerns of all district towns regarding cost and financial responsibility and hope that the three town selectmen/accountant group can move forward on these issues.

Marshall E. Carroll
Chilmark

The writer is chairman of the Chilmark finance committee.