[Vision2020] Vote YES on School Levy :-)

[Saundra Lund]

The increased tax will be a hardship on our family, particularly with the UI
(courtesy of the State's devaluation of higher education & administrative
mismanagement at the UI) continuing to erode health benefits, pay, etc.

I share some of the concerns expressed by others:  our schools don't have
enough text books (where is Arnold when you need him?), special ed resources
are too limited, etc.

BUT . . . 

I've actually been inside the high school over the past few years, something
I suspect many of those opposed to the levy haven't done.  That school has
served our youth well, but it's in sad shape now.  Some have mentioned
declining enrollment -- well, thank GOD because the facility is inadequate.
Period.  Perhaps the reason so many students eat off campus is because the
facilities are sorely inadequate.  Parking is inadequate.  As long as
*parents* allow their kids to drive to school (in some cases, all of a few
blocks), parking at the current facility is going to be a problem for the
students, for faculty/staff, and for our community.

Construction isn't going to get any cheaper, and something *has* to be done.
Without more money than we could ever hope to come up with, there's *no* way
to make the current location work as our community's sole high school.

A new high school is going to come too late to benefit my daughter, but we
are in this community for the long haul.  So, I'm thinking about the schools
my daughter's kids (God willing) will have, my friends' kids will have, and
the rest of our community's kids will have.  In this family, we're thinking
about our community's future.

Good people can -- and do -- disagree about the levy.

We'll be voting YES on the levy because our community's most precious
resource is our children, and we don't think this investment in our
community's children is something we can pass up.  Our kids need adequate
facilities, including an adequate high school.  Facilities aren't the only
part of the equation, but they are an important part.

BTW, I take great offense at the "ethical" objections to the grade
reconfiguration of having a four-year high school.  Get real!  It's
unethical, IMHO, to use scare tactics like that -- for shame, For Shame, FOR
SHAME!

And, regardless of the levy outcome, I join many, many others in my sincere
*gratitude* to the Trail family for their generous offer!

And, my thanks -- again -- to the Facilities Committee and the School Board
for their hard work sorting through the issues to come up with
recommendations for us.


Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
Edmund Burke