Thirty years ago the community invested in a new high school. The bond that was passed in 1986 was a bare-bones building meant to house 350 students and didn’t include athletic facilities or a performing arts auditorium. Back then electricity was cheap and the whole school was designed to use it. Now we’re spending a ridiculous amount of money just to heat the high school. We can do better.
Currently you’ll see a school that’s been lovingly cared for but is not up to standards for energy efficiency, technology, and houses almost twice the numbers of students it was built to hold. The award-winning Sultan music program still performs in the lunchroom. The matching money that Sultan qualifies for will basically pay for a performing arts auditorium and several other things, creating a wonderful opportunity to finally improve that situation. This match is mainly from Department of Natural Resources timber harvest money.
If this passes, each of the schools in the district will receive some basic support, including new roofs to be sure that we protect the investments we’ve made over the years. As a taxpayer I appreciate that the district has been diligently paying off previous bonds so now the Sultan School District has almost no bond debt. I also appreciate that the behind-the-scenes support that is so critical to running a clean, safe, efficient school district is being addressed. We’ve needed a new transportation facility for over 30 years. This bond addresses those needs in a very cost efficient way by combining the transportation, technology support, maintenance, administration and storage into one pole building that will be on land near the current bus parking. This move will free up the district office so that we could have a place to have an alternative high school, free up space at the middle school to create additional learning spaces, provide a transportation facility that’s efficient and safe, provide much needed storage.
Let’s reinvest in our schools and our community.
Debbie Copple
Sultan
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