Beyond the good marks that the city received from a survey of Island residents about the delivery of city services, there is useful information. The survey conducted a few weeks ago was to measure how Islanders view city services. Residents responded to how they felt about police services, streets and use of tax dollars.

Survey results are an essential tool in shaping how city funds should be spent. They help determine how to allocate dollars beyond what is required to provide the essentials of public health and safety.

But this year, there was something different. The survey was designed to ask about city services, but 29 percent of respondents indicated that education/school funding is the ‘most important problem facing the Island today.’

In 2010, 19 percent identified traffic/transportation issues as the biggest concern.

What gives?

Do residents sort of think that the city should be more involved in the issues surrounding the cost or location, etc.,  of new facilities within the school district?

Maybe. The city, it seems, tries to keep itself at arm’s length from the workings of the school district. The city has contributed in various ways to Island schools in helping to keep the pool operational, coordinating on events, transportation, etc. But, in reality, the two groups rarely work together.

At the first meeting between the district and the city after the overwhelming defeat of the initiative to raise nearly $200 million for schools, Deputy Mayor Dan Grausz repeatedly asked the School Board what they wanted from the City Council and the city. The School Board did not have an answer. City Councilmembers did not offer any ideas.

They should try again. Perhaps just as each member of the City Council is assigned as a liaison to a city committee, one member should be assigned to the School Board as another way to offer insight and support. It would be a start.

Most residents here are older. Two-thirds do not have a child at home. Despite that, we believe that most are truly concerned about schools (and their cost) not just preserving their property values.