Board will have tough sell

The Wellington school board has a difficult task before it in convincing voters to support Issue 40, an 8.98-mill bond issue to build a new kindergarten-through-12th-grade school building.

Implicit in the ballot language is abandonment of the current, dated school buildings and moving the athletic stadium from Dickson Street to the site of the new school building. Each of the different facets of the ballot issue will have its opponents, so the school board must be prepared to address all these issues.

First, and likely foremost in the minds of many voters, is the cost of the bond issue. While none of us likes to pay additional taxes, schools are an important part of what makes our community special, and they require money to keep them the attraction they are.

The issue of abandoning McCormick Middle School and using Westwood Elementary School as administrative offices has been and will continue to be contentious. Generations of Wellingtonians have gone through these schools, and abandoning them is a highly emotional issue.

The location of the athletic stadium is similarly emotional, with perhaps thousands of Dukes alumni harkening back to the glory days of playing at the Dickson Street field. A new stadium, however modern and well-appointed, would deprive these former athletes the thrill of pointing to the corner of the end zone where they caught the winning touchdown pass to beat Oberlin or Black River all those years ago.

Each of these arguments against the levy contains an emotional element that can be addressed through information. The school board has scheduled three community meetings to disseminate that information and to allow residents to have their questions answered.

Each of the meetings will be held at one of the three schools. Tours to be given as part of the meeting will show residents how a new building could improve the educational opportunities for our children over the existing buildings.

The meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at McCormick ; Thursday, Sept. 25 at Westwood; and Tuesday, Sept. 30 at the high school. We encourage residents to attend with open minds and to ask the questions they may have.