Vote no on BVCC levy

by Tom Watson, Stevensville

I am so blessed to reside in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana where this beautiful land is filled with beautiful Christian people!

Even elected officials profess their faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

I see that for Vocational Education (post high school) there is already the Christ-centered Summit Career Center which was highlighted in the March 6, 2024 Bitterroot Star. A recent visit there at Fort Owen in Stevensville confirmed a Christian approach in its delivery of services. Students graduate debt-free.

The Job Corps, a federally funded program, also already delivers vocational education post high school.

A visit in November 2023 to Branson MO revealed a host of Christmas shows touting “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” as well as a tour of nearby College of the Ozarks, where students MUST work 15 hours per week to pay for tuition and are imbued with a Christian and American patriotic-centric culture on campus. Students work with cattle, a working dairy, a mill, assisting with campus building construction, etc. and thus provide ice cream, cookies, fruit cakes, finished building materials, etc. and graduate debt-free.

I think Ravalli County citizens are better served by Christian post high school vocational and educational institutions than a government/state-run institution financed by ALL property taxpayers… regardless of how “small” the initial levy may seem. There is no absolute guarantee of any success. Neither is there any guarantee that students will remain debt-free during enrollment and at graduation.

Ravalli County citizens already have in place working successful post high school vocational training programs. There are also working models of privately funded post high school institutions which leave students debt-free both during years of instruction and at graduation.

I am going to vote NO on any new property tax levy that will require ALL property taxpayers to fund a post high school vocational or other educational institution like the Bitterroot Valley Community College which is governed by state laws and funded by taxpayers. There are better ways to train post high school individuals!