Vineyarders have a reputation for being ardent municipalists, preferring to address their problems at the town level. But if this town meeting season has illustrated anything, it is that Islanders are seeking solutions to many of the same issues.

With five annual town meetings now finished and still one to go — Aquinnah holds its annual meeting and election on May 12 and May 13 — clear common themes have emerged. Across the Island, school spending has become a nagging worry, how best to care for community elders is a growing issue and the escalating housing crisis weighs heavily on the minds of voters.

Of the five towns, only Edgartown approved spending for a new $3.9 million school superintendent’s building to replace one that is seriously deficient, effectively killing the project for this year. (Oak Bluffs was scheduled to vote on the project this week, but with other towns voting no, the issue is moot.) The vote may have been less about the building itself and more about frustration with overall school spending, the biggest contributor to town budget increases.

In West Tisbury the finance committee highlighted the school spending issue by voting symbolically to reject the annual town budget, citing uncontrolled school costs. Though the budget was approved at town meeting, two days later voters made themselves heard in the ballot box, rejecting a $300,000 tax override that was tied to the up-Island regional school district budget. Amid confusion over what the vote really means, the school committee meets next week, presumably to consider how to trim education costs.

Meanwhile, Vineyard voters looked more generously on the needs of their rapidly aging population. A county initiative to buy the former Vineyard Nursing Association building in Vineyard Haven to house the Center for Living and its senior day program has won strong backing in every town so far. If Aquinnah voters concur, the project will move forward. Voters were unfazed by the lack of a detailed project plan, and apparently spoke with their hearts.

Finally, as the acute shortage of affordable housing on the Vineyard continues to fuel emotional debate, two up-Island towns took steps to address the issue.

West Tisbury and Chilmark have agreed to amend their zoning bylaws to create a special permit process for what are called accessory dwellings. Under the new rules, property owners will be allowed to build small houses that could be rented to year-round Islanders or caregivers for the elderly. In each town there are restrictions that aim to keep property owners from abusing the bylaw: the size of the accessory dwellings will be limited, and they cannot be used as summer vacation rentals.

While crafted with the best intentions, the zoning bylaw changes also present potential problems, especially in enforcement. While increasing housing density may be inevitable, it is worth noting that minimum lot sizes were created for a reason: more dwellings create greater demands on public services and more stress on our fragile environment. If nothing else, town meeting season has served to bring three big Islandwide issues to the fore. At the risk of raising the “R” word, all of these — the rising costs of schools, the aging of the population, and the lack affordable housing — beg for a shared approach. The consistency of town voters’ reactions to these issues across the Vineyard suggests we can and should find a forum to decide what we want our Island to look like in the years ahead.