School bond need is real, but we can't afford it

Dear editor:

Well, I went to the 6 o'clock meeting yesterday (4/09) and came away sad because while the needs are very real, as we all knew they were, the $37 million dream school must be cut back, and I, for one, don't know how.

I don't feel we need to host District 4A or state tournaments here so maybe the gym is a place to begin to cut back. Local attendance is paltry for many of our local sports, so seating could be cut back somewhat. (And, only if possible, it might have a small announcer box with a phone line for the press. Some of those new grandiose schools have forgotten that simple item. But, in the interest of being frugal, maybe that too needs to be cut.)

What about the size of the auditorium, in each of its proposed phases? Or -- I'm on shaky ground here, because I know absolutely nothing about the subject -- how about the welding shop?

What I hope is that somehow this upcoming election be rescheduled for six months or so down the line -- Mr. McMurtrey said that was impossible, that it was too late to do that, and I failed to pursue why, exactly, that that was the case (because the "workers were already lined up?" Wow. I don't understand that) -- and charge the committee and school board to present a new proposed bond in the amount of $25 million.

It may very well be impossible to cut it down that much, but if a sincere effort was made, and the committee had to present something a bit more than $25 million, then I could vote for it, next time.

I have no doubt the committee and board put a lot of heart and soul and time and work into this current phase two project. We appreciate that. It was a huge, huge effort. And I was very gratified to see that while folks at the meeting were frank, it was a civil meeting. There was none of the personal vilification, at least not out loud, of those of us who oppose this particular school bond. (Or vice-versa.)

It was even enjoyable, actually, to be recognized by, and to recognize, some of our fellow bloggers. These ladies deserve a vote of thanks, by the way, for digging out the facts for us on their own.

As our bloggers learned and duly acknowledged, and I was reminded, all along the new four-year high school was meant to be accomplished in two distinct phases. So phase two is next up and badly, desperately, needed.

But it just can't cost $37 million. That is unreal.

Billie Jean Harter