Letter to the Editor | Board president grateful for bond approval

A-ábig, big thank you to our entire community for approving April's school bond measure.

Your support means the world to my fellow school board members and me, our students, their families and our staff members. We are indebted to each and every voter who took the time to learn about this proposal and return their yes vote.

We truly appreciate all those from every corner of the community who worked so hard to help spread the word of why these school projects would improve the education, safety and security of our students and children yet to become our students.

The world is a very different place now than when some of our older schools were built. Opening classroom doors directly into the outdoors has long been thought impractical for our weather, but in today's culture, having a single, secure entrance into the school is a no-brainer. Now, Monroe can do that for schools like Park Place Middle and Salem Woods Elementary [schools].

Since this is the first bond approved in more than a decade, every school has needs and will benefit in some way. We clearly heard from our community, "Don't raise taxes,GÇ¥ so we limited the scope of this request to stay within the current bond tax rate. That rate is expiring this year, when we pay off all the previous debt used to build Fryelands Elementary, modernize Maltby Elementary and other improvements. Even with that limitation, Monroe Public Schools will have made a big dent in its long list of overdue major maintenance and improvements.-á

We now look forward to working with you on the design details of the various projects. It will take six years to complete this scope of work, so stay tuned for ways you can be actively involved in shaping our local schools to provide every student an outstanding education that results in all students having a passion for learning.

Again, we say: Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Katy Woods

President

Monroe School Board