Tuesday, June 2, 2026 is a critical day for all Islanders to cast their vote on the proposed addition-renovation of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. On June 2 we have a chance to honor a Vineyard tradition to provide an engaging and robust educational experience for our 9-12 graders. In the 1950s, bold Vineyarders took a leap of faith to consolidate three separate town high schools (Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, Edgartown) to ensure Martha’s Vineyard would have a new facility capable of housing a full-bodied comprehensive curriculum.
My life has been steeped in public education. I spent five decades teaching in public high schools and thanks to being married to a public school administrator, I have lived through lots of Yes/No votes on school building proposals. Over time, I have noticed a pattern to these Yes/No votes. Routinely, school construction ballots draw voters whose mantra often is “No! Too expensive!”
Recall, that recently Tisbury voters, faced with a proposal to replace their elementary school, built in 1929, rejected funding for a new school. Once this happened, the town had to forfeit the state aid for a new facility, to say nothing of the costs of the necessary preliminary work. The total cost before interest payments of the MVRHS addition-renovation project is $333.5 million dollars; the state contribution will be $71 million dollars, if Islanders say yes.
Two weeks ago, my husband and I took up the building committee’s invitation to tour the school. Given what we heard and saw, we agreed, “Yes, this plan is expensive, but it is clearly not only a wise, but necessary investment in the Island’s future.”
Finally, let me suggest a few things.
1. Check the MVRHS website for times and places you can gather information to inform your decision.
2. While you are thinking about your vote, you might consider the questions that grew out of our tour of the school. We decided evidence we have gathered supports a yes to each of the following questions: Is it reasonable to consider that sometimes what we call expensive may turn out to be less expensive? Is it reasonable to trust the citizens comprised of the MVRHS school board and building committee after 10 years of deliberation, research and planning? Is it reasonable to believe the quality of a high school facility has an impact on a students’ desire to learn, creating an up-beat environment to work in, ad the economic well-being of the of the community?
3. Finally, isn’t it reasonable to think voting YES is our way of affirming a belief that quality public education strengthens our democracy?
One last suggestion. Please enter the time and date of the vote in your date book, or any other place you keep track of your appointments. If you are like me, post the message in more than one spot. A sign on the front door works: June 2nd, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at your usual town ballot voting location.
Judith Miller
Vineyard Haven
This article appears in May 22, 2026.