CONWAY — Basic necessities were among the items on a wish list for Conway School teachers and parents: dictionaries, updated maps and a functioning fire alarm system.

During a Monday night meeting to create a vision for the tiny district’s future — 10 or 20 years from now — others also brought up the dream of a high school. The meeting began with Superintendent Wayne Robertson giving the audience of about 20 parents, teachers and grandparents an overview of the state of the district.

Last week, the district‘s fire alarm system went off four times in a two-day period because of a malfunction, Robertson said. Board member Ron Housh said the recurring false alarms emphasized the importance of health and safety systems at the school.

Fifth-grade teacher Lisa del Bosque said her classroom needs basic everyday items, like dictionaries and maps.

“I don’t think there are particularly many classrooms that have a full set of dictionaries for their students,” del Bosque said. “And our maps are very much out of date.”

In fact, del Bosque said she was a junior at Mount Vernon High when the world map in her fifth-grade classroom was created 14 years ago.

Other wishes for the future included a high school for Conway, said Karen Asp, the president of the district’s teachers’ union and a fifth-grade teacher. Others in the room echoed agreement, but Robertson noted that the district, with 449 students, does not have a large tax base.

Since the Conway School District does not have a high school, students entering ninth grade attend Mount Vernon, La Conner or another district’s school. If one of those districts runs a construction bond to fund high school improvements, Conway residents are taxed a portion of that amount.

Also, if the Conway School District runs an operations levy, then the districts that serve Conway’s high school students get a portion of the levy.

“As we talk about the future of Conway, it’s not going to be with a lot of new money,” Robertson said.

A strength of the district, he said, is the support it gets from its parent and teacher association group, Support our Conway Schools.

Other wishes on the list included communicating better with residents and other school districts, as well as increasing the district’s fund balance. Currently the district holds $190,000 in reserve, about 4.2 percent of the district’s yearly operating budget.

At the next meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 3., Robertson will encourage participants to help the district find a way to meet the goals.

Kate Martin can be reached at 360-416-2145 or at kmartin @skagitvalleyherald.com.