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Show Bond answers Dear Editor: I would like to address some of the concerns con-cerns that people of our county have expressed ex-pressed through your paper in the last while, regarding the coming bond election. elec-tion. Having been on both the outside and inside of the decision making group, I would like to present the following for your consideration. TWO HIGH SCHOOLS. There are some' saying we need two high schools and not one large one. The last school bond election was just that, and the people peo-ple voted it down. The proposal was to build a vocational complex on the south end of the present high school property, that in the future the present junior high could be made to accommodate another high school, and have access to one vocational voca-tional facility. Two high schools in our area has been many hours in the discussion of high school facilities. The present decision coming from the fact that the natural growth that we are experiencing in our area would in the not too distant future make it so that perhaps a third smaller high school would need to be built. In the planning for the high school students I had always felt that we would be able, with the building of a new larger facility we would be able to place the ninth grade in the high school and get away from the junior high extra cur-ricular cur-ricular activities. But it soon was brought to our attention that the new building as proposed would only accommodate accom-modate the ninth grade for two or three years, which would not be feasible to place them in that situation and then change them back in such a short time. It was then decided that if a new high school were built, tlie most feasible thing would be to place the eighth and ninth grades together using the present high school facility, and using the present junior high building for the sixth and seventh grades. This last plan would be flexible to adding the fifth grade, if needed, need-ed, on a self contained basis. The thought that if we had two high schools in the Vernal area, that our students could stay in the Basin area for their competition in both athletic and academic fields sounds good, but I do not believe this would be the case, as we would still become too large in numbers to compete with these schools. I personally per-sonally would prefer that our students did not have so much travel for their competition, but this does not seem to be the case. We cannot go back to what we had and did twenty years ago. At the present pre-sent time the high school is not adequate in some areas. There is need for new vocational facilities, a new larger auditorium, new science and other academic areas. It seems more practical to build a new building than to keep adding ad-ding one to the old one and still have an old building. A high school is the one area that cannot can-not feasibly be built on a pay-as-you-go basis, this is the reason that the board has come to you, the public, for permission permis-sion to bond to build a new one. USAGE OF PRESENT FACILITY: Some have expressed concern that the present facility would be wasted in some areas by the new proposed arrangement. The new plan would use all the building. In the middle school all students would be required to take a class in shop, home ec, and music. This would make use of these available classrooms. We can keep building the smaller buildings for the elementary students on a pay-as-you-go basis, but what happens when these students all converge on the one facility for junior high and on into the high school? These students are required to attend school through these grade levels. INCREASING TAXES: The board has not claimed that your property taxes would not be raised, they have been honest and straight forward with yoq. Voting down this bond will not guarantee that your taxes will not be increased anyway, as the need will still be there for new buildings. The board has the authority to raise your taxes much more than they are now and could do so without your approval. The board does not want to do this, they prefer that you have a voice in this, by voting for the bond. It is common to vote on emotions and if there is anything that we find negative we vote against it. Please do not vote on your emotions in the negative as the problem will not go away, but will remain and only grow larger. There has been a concerted effort by the board, the PTA, Citizens Committee and others in the community to present you with the facts. Take advantage of these reliable sources and make your decision from them. WESTSIDE AUDITORIUM: The West area of our county has been promised an auditorium for almost seven years. The need for this is there, as no facility is now available for groups to meet for cultural events. The schools themselves would use them many times a year for their special programs and presentations. The surrounding communities would have access to use this to bring them together for special events, which would become available due to an appropriate place to hold them. Some classrooms would be available in this area, so it would be used us-ed everyday for the education of our students in that location of our county. It is very easy to sit on the outsjde of a decision making group and criticize why they decide the way they do, and to think that we have the answer better than they. I invite all of you concerned with the education of yours and other students to attend board meetings at any time. They are open for the public and there is room for you there. It has been found that the best supporters are those that attend at-tend meetings and hear the discussions as they take place. Ths is the third Board of Education that has asked for your vote on a bond for the high school building. It must be important or that many times they would not come to you for this vote. Let's please make the third time the charm and vote for the passage of this bond to insure the best educational environment for our students. Respectfully, ELOUISE N. TURNER |