Mead Citizens Write In Support Of Measure

‘Yes’ vote makes good educational sense

Voting “Yes” twice on Tuesday, March 10, for the Mead School District renewal levy and bond issue is a vote for the future of our children. The levy is a continuation of the current levy and will cost us 6 cents less than the present M&O levy. These funds provide many programs that our children enjoy that are not provided by state funds.

The bond issue is the result of over 12 months of study by 18 citizens and parents of the district. The Citizens Planning Committee has reviewed every school and facility in the district and held two community input sessions. These sessions were widely advertised in the North Side Voice and a special mailing that went to all postal addresses in the district. This bond was recommended to the Board of Directors because it is necessary to maintain quality facilities.

Our children deserve to have quality facilities and it is in our best interest to preserve the integrity of the district’s educational programs.

Many people live in the Mead School District because of the high standards and educational programs provided to our children. The classified advertisements continue to use “in Mead Schools” as a sales strategy. Not only does a yes vote for the levy and bond maintain our schools, it also maintains our property values.

A vote “Yes” makes good educational and financial sense. Denny Denholm Parent and Co-Chairman of the Citizens Planning Committee

Measures result of thorough studies and community input

March 10 is an important date for citizens in the Mead School District. Voters will be asked that day to approve two measures - a two-year replacement levy for day-to-day school operations and a building improvement bond issue that includes a total remodel of Mead High School.

The Mead remodel will account for slightly more than half of the total bond issue of $25 million. It is the result of a recommendation made by the Mead Schools Citizens Planning Committee after a comprehensive study over the past year of District studies, community meetings and patron and staff input.

Besides bond issue funds, other sources to be applied to the Mead remodel include $9 million in savings and interest from the 1994 Mt. Spokane High School construction project and $9.5 million in state school matching funds. We are proud of the savings that occurred on the Mt. Spokane project and of our commitment to use those savings on the Mead remodel.

The remaining bond issue funds of $12 million will be used for school building improvements and safety projects at six elementary schools and two middle schools.

The two-year replacement operating levy, of course, is extremely important for the support of students learning in our district. We are pleased to report that the replacement levy (for 1999-2000) will actually be less than the current levy.

We know that citizens in the Mead School District are proud of the educational quality of their public schools. We applaud them for their continued support for students in our community. Robert Olson, Frank Hoover, Tom Hunt, Phyrne Ostlind, Mary Jane Thompson The Mead School District Board of Directors

Levy, bond small price to pay for future of our children

Mead School District voters, we need your help!

There will be two very important issues on the March 10 ballot. One is the M&O levy. This is not a new tax, but a renewal of the current levy, which expires at the end of this year. Levy funds make up over 16 percent of the school district’s budget and are essential to maintain the diverse offerings that we expect for our children, but that are not funded by the state.

These include such things as music programs, extra-curricular sports, academic clubs, counseling services, programs for students with special needs, student leadership programs, and many more, which we tend to take for granted, but which would not be possible without levy funding.

The other issue is a bond to finance facility improvements throughout the district. Our children deserve a safe, positive environment, where they can learn without disruptions caused by failing heating and ventilation systems, leaking roofs or inadequate electrical systems. The cost of this bond, which will address needs in nine of the eleven school buildings in the district, is only $1.06 per week (for a $100,000 home). When we consider that our children are our future, that certainly seems a small price to pay.

Please join with me in supporting both the bond and the levy on Tuesday, March 10. Linda Becker Spokane

Money saved in long run

After having six children go through the Mead School system and having our community support the school district as unselfishly as they did, we would like to thank them all and encourage them to keep up the good work.

On March 10, the community will be asked to approve the bond and levy for the schools. The state recognizes that we need to remodel and modernize by matching the dollars spent. Because the district carefully watched the expenditures for the construction of Mt. Spokane Mead High School and prudently invested the excess, the bond amount asked for is millions of dollars less that it would have been.

The district promised that any excess from the new high school would go toward the remodel of Mead High School. They are keeping that promise. Also, the basis used to determine the state reimbursement is better at this point than it would be later, which would make it even more expensive if we wait.

The projects needed at all of the schools will need to be done no matter what. If we approve the bond now, the needed improvements will be done and it will cost us much less in the long run.

Therefore, we encourage you all to support your community’s children and vote yes for the levy and yes for the bond on March 10. Mead Schools - the quality goes on. Dorothy and Cash Stone Spokane

Committee did its job

After reading LeeAnn Hancock’s letter in the North Side Voice on Jan. 29, I feel compelled to respond to her claim that the Mead School Board should have solicited “more diverse patron input” before approving the bond proposal submitted to them, and approved, on Jan. 8.

I am a member of the Citizen’s Planning Committee which submitted the proposal to the Board. The CPC is comprised of 18 diverse patrons of the school district. We toured every facility owned by the school district. We reviewed state evaluations of each school, enrollment projections for the district, projected costs, and funding sources for needed improvements. Most importantly, we received input from the principals of each school in the district, who advised us about the priority needs of their facilities, which they had determined after consultation with their faculties and the PTAs.

After determining what we felt were the most pressing district needs, and determining how best to fund these needs, we held two community workshops during the first week in December. These workshops were announced to the public through an article in the North Side Voice and by a special mailing to all Mead patrons in the “Mead Matters.” These workshops produced valuable input which resulted in revisions to the proposal ultimately submitted to the board.

All of the foregoing took place over the course of nearly one year. I do not know how the process could have been any more thorough or democratic. I urge all Mead patrons to vote for both the bond and levy on March 10. Mead needs to retain quality schools and education for our quality kids. Jim Woodard Colbert

Mead’s needs are great

As a member of Mead Citizens Planning Committee, I strongly urge Mead patrons to vote on March 10 for Mead’s bond for capital improvements and also the renewal levy for maintenance and operation.

The point has been made by opponents of the bond that the quality of education is not dictated by the quality of school facilities. Although true to some degree, this position ignores the need to bring to a certain standard facilities that are inadequate. Perhaps you can teach a student in a room with four walls and a blackboard, but when any school building is deteriorating, common sense dictates that it be repaired or renovated to maintain its utility and value.

Our committee toured all the facilities in the district and spent about three hours in Mead High School alone. We learned first-hand about not only the educational deficiencies of that building, but also its many structural shortcomings.

Based upon state-wide criteria, Mead High School scored 52 out of a possible 100. This is objective evidence that the building is failing. While our committee identified Mead High School as being in the greatest need of renovation, there are other priority facility needs throughout our district which will be addressed by this bond.

As stewards of community-owned schools, we have an obligation to maintain our buildings in a condition that will not only meet the needs of our students now but will continue to serve the community well into the future. Steven Grovdahl Spokane