Letter to the editor

To the editor:

Regarding Issue 40, the bond issue to fund the construction of a new K-12 school facility for the Wellington School District; following are some personal observations and comments.

In evaluating the existing school buildings, I doubt if anyone can justifiably argue they still meet the grade as suitable and functional centers for learning for the children of this school district. Should they be renovated or replaced? The proposal being considered for construction of a new facility provides clear advantages both financially and from the standpoint of not disrupting the educational process if the existing buildings were to undergo massive renovation.

The analogy that comes to mind is the family car. When new or in its early years, the family car is usually reliable and meets all of the family's needs very adequately. With everyday use in all types of weather and road conditions, it can, over time, develop some repair and maintenance issues that need attention. Those repair issues must be addressed to continue driving the car but at some point it can become more expensive to continue fixing the car than to find a replacement. There very likely are sentimental reasons to be reluctant to give up the old car but sooner or later, sentimentality has to give way to reality and the family needs a newer car. I think we are beyond that point with our existing school facilities.

If indeed it is time to make a choice between either continuing to repair our old car or replace it, and the dealer offers to cover 46 percent of the cost of the new car, the decision becomes much easier, if not completely obvious. I believe this is where we are as a community regarding the opportunity presented to us by the Ohio School Facilities Commission. Additionally, the money being offered comes from proceeds of the $4.1 billion Tobacco Securitization initiative, not state taxes as some have suggested.

However, if we procrastinate and don't take advantage of this opportunity now, the cost of a new school facility will continue to escalate while the total dollars offered remains the same. By next August the offer expires completely. I don't claim to be the shrewdest business person that ever graduated from WHS but this is an obvious decision for me.

Perhaps our most important obligation as a community is to provide a good education for our children. This obligation extends to every member of the community, not just to the families with school-age children. My children completed school a number of years ago but I believe this is the right choice, and the smart choice, at the right time for the Wellington School District. Please join me in supporting Issue 40.

Jim McConnell

Pittsfield Township