Vote For Schools

The reputation of Mead School District has made it a magnet for area families. In the past 10 years, enrollment grew from 6,500 to 8,000. On Tuesday, Mead voters can approve a $25 million bond issue to complete a needed modernization and expansion program.

Also on the ballot is a levy to continue the local contribution to the district’s operating costs.

The Spokesman-Review trusts Mead voters will back their schools, as voters in other area districts did last month.

If both measures pass, property tax rates would rise by 55 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

The bonds would enable the district to remodel 25-year-old Mead High School, bringing it to the standards of Mt. Spokane High School, built in 1993. The older school suffers from a leaky roof, inadequate classroom dividers and outdated electrical, heating, plumbing and fire-safety systems. All this, and more, would be fixed.

The remodeling’s cost to taxpayers will be reduced by money retained from efficiencies in the construction of Mt. Spokane High. Voters should applaud the fiscal stewardship of district managers, who use World War II-era barracks for their own offices but have worked systematically with citizen advisers to modernize instructional facilities for the kids.

This bond issue also would fund roof repairs, classroom additions, electrical upgrades and more in some of the district’s other, older school buildings. The result will be a school system of which our entire region can be proud.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster For the editorial board