WALTERS': School Bond Deserves Community Support
Local couple urges voters to approve March 3rd bond measure, citing outdated buildings and need for community investment.
When confronted with a dilemma, it is often helpful to zoom out, to gain the widest perspective possible. When it comes to public education, our goal should be Community Consensus. Not that we would all agree on how each dollar is spent, or how and where each school is built. We as a community elected a school board with diverse views. Today’s bond represents a reflection of those representatives’ policy decisions. The bond’s principles serve the district’s long-range Strategic Plan. Ideas have taken shape from public long-range Facility Planning sessions dating back to 2018, and voter feedback in the wake of three failed bonds.
The fact that our community seems to be grappling with whether and how best to support our schools is a symptom of a broader problem in our society: a growing lack of trust in public institutions. This cynicism has come to prominence alongside the advent and growing ubiquity of social media. Its algorithms tap into our human instincts toward conflict, without the awkward tension that comes with face-to-face proximity.
It’s hard to find something everyone agrees on. If you’re looking for a reason NOT to support the bond, you will find one. Too much, not enough, not in that location, not the right time.
But if you’ve been in our school buildings, and if you’ve been in school buildings in other communities, then you know just how outdated and insufficient our school facilities are. Most would agree our schools need a bond, although we may disagree on whether this plan or that plan is the best plan.
Following our fifth grade son to youth basketball tournaments, we have been in countless area middle schools and high schools. Through tennis, debate, choir and scholars’ bowl, our daughters have had the opportunity to see many area schools as well. McPherson, you all should know, the difference in facilities is not even close!
The Middle School has an amazing location and architectural character. But despite all that charm and antiquity, standards for safe and efficient learning facilities have changed many times over, since the school’s opening in the 1930s. The 1930s! It’s quite a feat of fiscal responsibility that we have made these school buildings last as long as they have. We are now beyond that, throwing good money at outdated facilities.
MMS reminds all who enter, that even during the Great Depression, this community built something amazing, that lasted for generations. Take a bow, MMS! Your lifetime as an innovative school facility was long and fruitful, but it has come to a close. You’ve served your community well, and then some.
We have been encouraged to see so many community members putting themselves out there, to show support for this bond initiative. It takes cooperation and engagement to make worthwhile change. We feel as though McPherson is at a tipping point. It’s up to us to decide if we want to attract young families, if we will continue to be a destination for industry and development, and if we will make the necessary investments to stem the tide of rust and decay.
Most of us would agree that our school facilities do not meet our community’s Standard of Excellence. Factually, a school bond is the one and only mechanism to address this shortcoming. Our hope is that every community member can find something in this bond that reflects an idea that is important to them. Everyone can have a different reason to say Yes! Let’s put aside our differences, trust the professionals who were hired by our elected officials, have faith in the imperfect process of Community Consensus, and acknowledge that our teachers and students rely on voter support.
We will show our support by voting Yes x 2 on March 3rd, and we hope that you will do the same.
-Phil & Katie Walters
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