Bond essential for improving education | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published 12:10 pm Saturday, January 9, 2016

To the editor:

On Feb. 9, our community will be asked to approve a new school bond.

As an ex-school board director, I believe passing this bond is essential to the education, health and safety of our students. While I will be voting yes, I’m writing to urge voters to ask questions and to study the facts supporting this request.

Do we really need new school buildings? Why not renovate? How do updated facilities affect education? What’s happening with enrollment? Are there safety issues involved? How does the district ensure reasonable and affordable taxpayer costs? Is the construction budget comparable with similar projects at comparable districts? Does the quality of our schools affect our property values? How does an excellent school district correlate with the vibrancy and culture of our community?

The district mailer will be arriving soon in homes around the island. Please take time to read it carefully. Our citizen committee has pulled together details from in-house studies and independent consultant reports. This information can be found at the Bainbridge Island Public School Supporters website (bipss.org).

I also invite you to visit the two school buildings discussed — tours for the public will be held on Jan. 13 from 4 to 7 p.m., and on Jan. 23 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at both Blakely Elementary and the High School 100 Building.

We teach our students to question, to be well informed, to sift fact from hearsay or misinformation and to critically analyze issues. I encourage voters to do the same. The facts support an enthusiastic vote “yes” for the bond.

MARY CURTIS

Bainbridge Island