By LARRY JOHNSONLos Alamos
The purpose of this column is to urge you to vote no on the school bond issue. There are at least three good reasons to vote no.
First, we voted for a large tax increase before the new high school was built, followed by a new middle school and a new elementary school. We were assured by the school board at that time they would need no further bonds for capital expenses. The present vote is for further capital spending. A vote no will reduce our taxes and partially compensate for the previous large increase.
The second reason to vote no is because the school board unwisely spent millions on replacing Aspen School when the elementary school population was declining. Any projection showed that we will only need two elementary schools in Los Alamos in the next few years.
Aspen could easily have lasted until it was no longer needed. Because of this unwise investment in a new school, we should send a message to the school board. Vote no.
The third reason is related to the second reason but is somewhat different. We presently have about 320 out of district (OOD) students at the K-6 level. Without those K-6 OOD students, we only need one K-6 school in White Rock.
I think it is a poor policy to bring large numbers of OOD students into the district and expect the local taxpayers to pay for buildings and facilities to handle them. Again, we need to send a message to the school board that it is unreasonable to provide facilities for OOD students. Vote no on the bond issue.
