We invite Lopezians to take a close look at Jay Brant’s qualifications for school director.

Because they work hard, understand their resources, and think creatively, Jay and his wife are making a go of a small business that some would consider marginally viable. Making a small school district go is not all that different. For the task at hand, Jay’s resume is impeccable: Navy veteran, community volunteer, a person who listens and engages.

Jay has exercised a very positive influence on our own son’s life, coaching him through a track season that’s given him a passion for running. Jay provided help and encouragement beyond the call of duty. Through the Lopez Island High School Athletic Boosters Club, he has meanwhile helped effect various improvements to the athletic fields – without charging the school district a penny.

We appreciate the frankness of Jay’s recent Lopez Rocks post on why families abandon the school community. His hard-numbers take on that matter offers a refreshing contrast to the ooze of self-congratulation that emanates from the district.

We were among the families who withdrew a total of 11 students (5 percent of the enrollment) in 2010-2011. Part of the chagrin we felt stemmed from how little attention the school accorded problems Jay refuses to leave ignored. Those issues lie not in the periphery of academic alternatives or extracurricular activities, but at the core of the educational process. The school would profit by addressing them head on – as Jay is.

That history of problems festers in many minds, and will not wither away without a discomfiting discussion of those problems’ scope and possible remedies. Jay has already begun that process.

We shared Jay’s skepticism about the recent bond issue. Jay knows the bells and whistles the bond would have financed would not have made a better school. His concern lies not with the gilt, but with the essentials: discipline, civility, high academic standards.  Do join us in electing Jay Brant school director.

C.B. and Mona Hall

Lopez Island