Are you still trying to decide about the Sequim School Bond issue currently before you?

Recent letters have reinforced the need to provide students with competent facilities in which to gain a quality education. I also think the district has shown responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars in managing buildings they currently own as demonstrated by the remodel of our classic old brick high school which now serves administration and the alternative school.

I offer two other considerations that beg your support. The first is the sad reality that our country as a whole faces a safety and security issue for our children. There have been 387 school shootings in the U.S. since 1992. Eighteen occurred right here in Washington (www.stoptheshootings.org). I want to believe this would never happen in Sequim, but experience has shown that no place is immune from violence.

The second consideration is asking how we can help stem the high dropout rate in Clallam County. Johns Hopkins research has clearly drawn the correlation between truancy and school dropouts. Our old schools were built in the open campus design before these issues were so common.

It is essential we build facilities that afford maximum safety and security to reduce the opportunity for violence and remember that keeping kids in the classroom affords a higher graduation rate, better employment opportunities, better citizenship and lower crime rates for us all.

Please join me in supporting an investment not only for our children, but our entire community, and above all, please vote!

Bill Dickinson

Sequim

(Dickinson is the Sequim Chief of Police)