We need to push hard for a school-bond election in the wake of a growing community. 591 new students crossed the thresholds of our local schools on the first day of classes, and more are expected.

In 2004, the school district barely gained ground on fixing up schools and anticipating new students in our community. The district was also very successful in building new schools and sticking to their budget. But more importantly the district was able to build a bonus school with savings from the 2004 bond project.

Additionally the Long Range Planning Committee and district have been engaged in discussions about alternative construction methods focused on saving energy. The fact is the district is developing standards for future schools based on energy and design standards used in the construction of the new Chipeta Elementary School.

The bottom line is the district has been able to keep construction costs down which has allowed for opportunities in innovative design and energy savings initiatives, all while paying less than the voter approved bond premiums.

There is no question the district will continue to look for ways to spend more dollars in classrooms focused on teaching kids of tomorrow. But for now, new schools are a much better alternative than crowded classrooms. Luckily we have a school district with the stewardship to lead this effort and hopefully be ahead of the curve.  Our community needs to push for more schools and vote ‘Yes’ on 3A and 3B.

WADE A. HAERLE
Grand Junction

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 10:15 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.