Please vote yes for the Sequim School District facilities improvement bond.

District facilities are in dire need of upgrading and replacement. If you have any doubts, take a school tour like I did. Call the District office (582-3262) to arrange a tour.

The list of needs – yes needs, not wants – is long. We must have additional classroom space for all-day kindergarten. As it is, we’ll have to get more portables to add to the numerous “temporary” portable classrooms that have been in use for decades. We must improve the security of the high school and Helen Haller, and technology upgrades are essential. And that gym, it was built in 1954!

Fortunately, our dedicated teachers and staff have done an amazing job of adapting and patching up facilities to get by. It’s time we quit throwing good money after temporary solutions.

The price tag is high, but only because we’ve kicked this can down the road for far too long. A previous facilities improvement committee came up with almost identical recommendations five years ago. If not now, when?

Many of you reading this do not have kids in school, but you probably did. And many of you probably have grandchildren in school somewhere. We can be like my parents’ generation who grew up during the Great Depression and take pride in surviving through adversity or we can take pride in doing the best we can for the future of this great community.

Let’s not settle for just getting by. Vote yes for Sequim schools.

Joe Holtrop

Sequim