Yes! Yes! Yes! School vote puts kids first

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Editorials

April 3, 2019 - 10:21 AM

Supporters for the school bond issue gathered Tuesday evening at Rookies to await the election results.

For the first time in 43 years, the stars aligned to the point that a majority of voters felt confident in approving funds to build a new school for District 257.

The $25.5 million bond was the linchpin to approval of two smaller issues: A new $7 million science and technology center at the high school and $2.8 million for a new heating and cooling system at the middle school.

That district voters approved the whole enchilada speaks volumes about their support for our public schools and their confidence in the future of our communities. 

It has been since 1976 that voters approved funds to build LaHarpe Elementary and all the way back to 1949 to build McKinley Elementary. Since then, elections to build new facilities have failed in 1978, 1985, and 2014. In the interim, school administrators have been forced to use a bandaid approach to fixing a multitude of problems, placing the schools further and further behind modern approaches to education.

 

VOTERS SHOWED Tuesday that just like our forefathers, they know it requires a personal investment to make things happen. 

The vote also helps build enthusiasm for making other changes possible.  

Right out of the gate will be a focus on the east entrance to town and how to make it more welcoming. 

Senior citizens might start rethinking their living arrangements if Lincoln and McKinley are transformed into spacious apartments with built-in communities. That big home they’ve lived in for 50 years might be better suited for a young and expanding family. 

The wheels are turning as to all the possibilities the new construction will mean including how offshoot businesses can be created. 

As soon as today, the news that the district will have a new school can be broadcast to prospective professionals and young families scouting out southeast Kansas.

But most of all, passage of the three issues shows the value we place on our children and their education. 

By Tuesday evening, it had already been a great week. 

— Susan Lynn

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