Reasons to support the school bond

Five reasons why I am supporting the new high school project:

1) Moses Lake High School has the second-highest attendance in the state out of 550 high schools.

2) The high school was remodeled 22 years ago to accommodate 1600 students. Enrollment is at 2226. Which means we are more than 600 over the intended capacity from when it was remodeled.

3) In 2000 the population of Moses Lake was 14,953. Today it is estimated at 22,082. That’s about 47 percent growth. The U.S. growth rate over the same period is a little over 11 percent. Our “little” town is growing and it is not slowing down. I think that is exciting. (Imagine if we had an Italian restaurant!)

4) Having an excellent school district matters to everyone not just those with kids or grandkids in the school district. Good school districts attract top professionals to our community. Good school districts make for better employees. We cannot “kick the can down the road” again. I believe that if we are short-sighted on this vote we will be failing our kids and our community.

5) The cost: $135 million. Freak out! Go ahead… get it out of your system. I get it. I’m not a big proponent of raising taxes. But most of the time my taxes get sent out to fund who knows what. These funds are staying here. They help all of us improve this place we call home. Now how much is it really going to cost you? This bond is for $1.46 per $1000 of assessed value. That means that the average person will be paying $212.86 a year – that’s 17 bucks a month. 17 bucks for essentially three new schools seems like a pretty good deal. Many hands make light work. Let’s do this together.

Ken McLain

Moses Lake