Support for Stevensville school building bonds

By Tammy Johnson, Mathematics Teacher at Stevensville High School, Pam Johnson, Spanish Teacher at SHS

We would like to thank the past and present board members and administrators who have been careful to include all stakeholders (faculty, staff, parents, students, community members and architectural teams) in the continuing process of evaluating our district’s needs.
In the many years we have lived and taught in this district, our communities have joined together collectively to improve the K-12 campus in many ways. However, we still have an abundance of neglected areas. The community is now being asked to fund the next phase of needed improvements for our elementary and high school districts. The phase that is being proposed is important to meet a myriad of issues including but not limited to, deferred maintenance, safety and security, the learning environments for our students, and improving athletic facilities. We wholeheartedly support this effort. While we understand that all improvements cannot be addressed at this point, we are satisfied that all needs have been assessed and prioritized in a thorough process and that the decisions made were done in an informed, purposeful, careful, and thoughtful manner. These improvements are part of an ongoing process of evaluation, maintenance, and development.
Unfortunately, maintenance comes with a high price tag and it has been put off far too long. In the years that we have been teaching in the high school (35 years, 18 years, respectively), nothing has been done to improve the inside or outside of the building. If you haven’t visited the buildings, you really should see what our students experience on a daily basis. The bathrooms are not only unsightly but aren’t handicap compliant. The windows don’t close completely, making for some chilly classrooms and expensive electric bills. Wires hang down in almost every room, and that is just the very beginning of the list. Our children really do deserve better than this.
We ask you to please support both the high school and elementary bonds by voting YES. We need to take care of what we have, while ensuring a promising future and education for our growing population. That responsibility comes from the collective communities of Stevensville and Lone Rock.