School Bond Too Expensive

Dear Editor,

Most people, regardless of whether they are retired or still working, are on a fixed income, because wages are not keeping up with what it takes to live. And wages in this area have never been particularly generous.

So when private citizens express concern to the Dayton School Board about a 20 million dollar bond to modernize the Day­ton school facilities, they are valid in their concerns:

The overall cost of the project is beyond the ability of the community to bear.

Let's do the math: if the bond passes, the resulting property tax increase is estimated to be $2.53 per thousand dollar valuation for 20 years. For a $200,000 home, which is closer to contemporary market prices for many people's residences, taxpayers will see an average increase of $506 per year -- for 20 years -- and this in addition to the every two-year maintenance levy that the district will continue to ask for -- because they never stop asking for money, do they?

Superintendent Doug Johnson, in an interview with the Waitsburg Times, said, "We're getting to the point where deficien­cies in our facilities will begin impacting the quality of education we can provide."

I wonder; how satisfied are people with the quality of education being provided? I know that we are not the only family who homeschooled our children (and still con­tributed, through our property taxes, to the school district), and we hear of numerous other families who send their children to Starbuck, Waitsburg, or Walla Walla.

I fail to see how K-8 gym modifications and a new Commons/Community/Admin­istration addition will improve children's education. And the shop/bus barn reroof -- isn't this what M & O funds are supposed to address?

Voting no is not a statement against children; it's a statement against public establishments that see taxpayers as a never- ending source of funds.

Carolyn Henderson

Dayton