The vote to apply significant funds to our middle/high school missed by a narrow margin. A mere one third of voters registered in the district chose to make their voices heard by casting ballots. The conversations begun around this project must continue. We all need to come to the table for civil, thoughtful discourse, whether we are a proponent or an opponent of a major renovation.
The building has many needs. Please be a constructive part of the discussion. Together, we can make this facility a point of pride in our community once more, for both adults and students. Without attention to this school, our community will eventually decline. Families will choose other communities in which to raise their children. Houses will linger on the market, prices falling. Businesses will suffer.
Our community is established as innovative, interesting, beautiful, vibrant and welcoming. We’ve made sure these traits extend through all five of the elementary schools in our district. Now is the time to address the serious issues facing our high school facility. This school was built in the 1960s to be a point of pride and the apex of innovative public spaces. Time and deferred maintenance have taken a heavy toll.
After a revolving door of administrations, we now have a stable, capable leadership team up to the daunting task of rejuvenating our middle/high school. There is a vision for educating the children and making welcoming spaces for the entire community. Thoughtful, fiscally responsible decisions have been implemented placing us in a perfect position for bonding a major renovation with the least possible additional impact on our taxes. The need for comprehensive building renovations is not going away.
We all lead busy lives and a general malaise about our democratic system is a serious issue. Do not let these keep you on the sidelines of such important decisions. At the very least, please go to the polls and vote when the next bond proposal is placed before us.
Denise Dalton
Monkton