We can pay now or pay later for our schools

I have to admit, the $55 million school plant facilities levy has piqued the interest of everyone I talk to. People who typically don’t have an opinion are quickly willing to share theirs with anyone who will listen. Most are based on some level of knowledge albeit in some cases, misinformation.

We have had both the proponents and opponents in the pages of the Daily Bee. We have had both sides on Facebook Live feeds, sharing their opinions and facts. Our letters have overflowed as we opened the pages to allow you to throw in your two cents.

But I still have concerns about a lack of knowledge as you, the voters, go to the polls. If nothing else, spend Sunday and Monday getting informed, look at the facts and then make an informed decision.

Here are a couple of key points, in my humble opinion as a taxpayer.

Several apples-to-oranges comparisons were made. For instance, the opponents said the plant facilities levy was larger than all the other plant facilities levies in the state combined … wrong. The plant facility levy’s single-year amount is about 16 percent of the total for the state. But that excludes bonds, which count for another $140 million in 2016.

On the supporters’ side, Facilities Planning Committee chair Kendon Perry and Lake Pend Oreille School District Superintendent Shawn Woodward both said there were plenty of instances where the community could address the board, about the levy at board meetings. I would argue that holding a special school board meeting to allow the community to discuss the proposal, prior to authorization by trustees would have gone a long way toward smoothing out concerns. Past school districts that I have covered would typically hold informational nights and share everything they had.

Despite the misgivings of both sides, a fundamental question needs to be answered. For us as a community, a state, a country, to remain competitive, we need to invest in education. I don’t feel qualified to second guess a group of community members and experts in their conclusion that we need to invest in facilities. In this case, some level of trust has to be garnered to those who were on the committee. I know Kendon Perry personally and have never had the impression that he would say or support something that he didn’t believe in. I applaud the committee for making the recommendations they did even if there are some perceived hiccups in the process.

Would the approach of one school at a time work? I have no idea and frankly, it would take another year to flush that out to come up with a list of recommendations. And from a voter’s perspective, who also pays taxes in the community, I’m not sure I could support a bond or facilities levy every year or every other year, while also being asked to support an operational levy every other year.

I appreciated that Dan Rose and Anjelo Lonzisero were willing to share their thoughts on the process. They do seem to have as much concern for our tax dollars as Kendon does for our schools and the education they provide.

One aspect that has bothered me through this process is the vilification of the school board and the facilities committee. When will the opposition realize that it does no good, at the community level, to attack those willing to get involved. The opposition is attacking the very people willing to spend their time to make the community better. Do we fault the school district for appointing people who have a desire to improve education in our community? I don’t think so.

So where does that leave us? I’m voting for the plant facilities levy after hearing arguments on both sides. I believe that the community has postponed an investment in school facilities for too long and it’s finally catching up to us. I prefer to give our kids every edge possible, even if measured in single-digit percentages.

But beyond that we need to pressure our legislators to open up our federal forests to more logging to further fund education. The process to fund schools established over a century ago, can still work and our forests are a renewable resource.

Get out and vote on Tuesday and support our district’s efforts to improve our children’s opportunities.

Jim McKiernan is the publisher of the Bonner County Daily Bee. He can be reached at jmckiernan@bonnercountydailybee.com.