It's voters turn to listen

The Wellington schools have listened to the voters. When voters last year narrowly defeated an 8.48-mill bond issue to construct a new K-12 school with an auditorium and stadium, the school board and administration listened to the reasons why the levy was defeated.

The price tag was too high; the district had already invested in Westwood; primary grades shouldn't be in the same building with high school grades. With these arguments in mind, the board and administration crafted a new plan to address the concerns.

The current proposal will be less expensive as a result of dropping the auditorium and stadium from the plan. Federal economic stimulus money will reduce the cost even further.

When nearly half of all school bond issues in the state failed in the November 2008 general election, the legislature modified the law to allow schools to extend bond issues up to 37 years, instead of 28 years. As a result, the annual tax bite on residents will be about half the proposal from last year.

Finally, the current proposal would build a 3-12 building, retaining Westwood for kindergarten through second grade. This plan keeps the primary children in a separate facility from older children, and recognizes the investment taxpayers have already made in that building.

The board has listened to the voters, so now we ask the voters to listen to the board. This facility is needed to keep our students competitive with graduates from other districts whose voters have approved modern buildings.

We urge voters to approve Issue 36.