Since the first failed USD 338 school bond election in 1997, school board members have come and gone. Superintendents have come and gone as well and middle age people are old and young people have lost their youth.

Given that the first bond issue was more than a year in the planning, a child entering kindergarten then is probably a senior this year. In those dozen years, inflation has doubled the price and the current proposal is a miniature of anything previous.

The last successful bond issue was in 1969 when a large plurality—418 to 135—approved a new gym, library, and commons. That was not the case 28 years later. The bond issue in 1997 failed, 277-375, when the board asked for $3.9 million.

Another attempt was made two years later in August of 1999 when a $4.13 million bond issue failed in a squeaker, 338-345. The board made some quick adjustments, apparently thinking that $3.49 million might be digestible and tried again in April 2000. It too was defeated, 345-451.

Next spring, eight years after the last election and 40 years since the last building project, the board will try again. This time there are some differences. Previous elections promised new industrial arts facilities with attached computer labs. They were going to replace some roofs, build some parking, put an elevator in the high school, air condition the old gym, and include a couple of classrooms, one for special education.

This time there is no industrial arts facilities or computer lab included. They took half the library for computers and plan to build an industrial arts complex out of capital outlay funds. Many of the other things have been done with local tax dollars. The roof had to be fixed and some decent parking has been made available and the high school now meets the ADA requirements.

This time they are trying to hold the money to $3 million but I think they will have to add to this. They can still stay under 10 mills. A room for special education is still in the works and a room for a new preschool that was added this year. The centerpiece is still a gymnasium with a fitness center. It’s the proverbial elephant in the bond election and has to be dealt with head on.

Sports are not going to go away and a double gym combination drastically cuts the time required for the present schedule. Teams now start at 4 p.m. and run to 11 p.m. Practice times are difficult to schedule and now run from before sunrise to late in the evening. Girls and boys require equal time and both middle and high school squads make for lots of ball playing.

There’s more. Schools that host volleyball tournaments need two gyms and the nonschool community needs a gym. Local coaches for small frys, churches, and other organizations say they can’t find time to schedule the use of the gym.

But the board does not want to talk about sports. They want to emphasize the gym as just another classroom and only two gyms will allow them to meet the ever increasing demand for more physical education hours.

There has been a change in the community represented by approval of the Recreation Commission, which has a tremendous track record so far in the activities it has introduced into the community. One of its earliest stated goals was the creation of a community center, which the school bond will help fulfill. The school already has the equipment and providing a fitness center for everyone is an affordable way for the community to gain this asset.

Am I fer it or agin it? Well, I just got my tax statements and gulped like everyone else. It appears every other taxing entity is getting its share and continues to grow on the inflated assessed values. But every generation needs to take care of its local school. At Valley Falls, we skipped a generation.

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