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PTA Unanimously Supports School Bond

The General PTA Executive Committee has unanimously voted to support the 50,012,023 Capital Improvement Bond Resolution. We commend our administration and board of education for focusing on the critical needs neglected in the past. We urge our community to support this bond resolution with a yes vote. The vote will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 18 between the hours of 4 to 10 p.m. in the high school gymnasium.

Over the past several years, there have been three main questions which have been recurrently raised by parents in the district.

1. How did we allow our facilities to deteriorate to the point where the required repairs cannot adequately be addressed by the budget alone?

2. How will we provide for our increasing student population?

3. How can we provide the educational programs required to meet the demands of a global society?

In adopting the comprehensive Capital Improvement Plan, our school board has taken a bold and necessary step forward in addressing all three of these challenges. Long overdue repairs and renovations are planned for all of our school facilities. Additional classroom space will be added to accommodate our growing enrollment. Finally, our facilities will be equipped with the physical resources designed to allow us to improve and update our educational programs. Our children must be prepared to meet the new State Learning Standards, to attain the skills necessary to succeed here, in college and in our rapidly changing society.

The General PTA Executive Committee applauds the courage and the vision which the school board has demonstrated and urge the community to show its support by voting for the Bond Resolution on Tuesday, Nov. 18. In coming to this conclusion, the General PTA Executive Committee has scrutinized not only the school board's proposal, but also the position advanced by those questioning the contracts for consulting services pertaining to the Capital Plan. Perhaps most compelling is the following statement from the critics of the contracts for consulting services. "We all agree, however that the severe deficiencies in the school system's physical facilities must be addressed. The $50 million plus bond issue - if adopted - would provide the financial means of doing so, and enable some facility expansion to ameliorate the growth in school population by the School Board. We support the proposed school bond for that reason, and consider mush of the work that would be undertaken if the bond passed, to be essential."

Garden City General PTA
Executive Committee