I attended the Snoqualmie Valley School District Facilities Task Force meeting this week where we heard recommendations for addressing rapid student growth. It was an insightful, yet serious, meeting. The reality is the Snoqualmie Valley School District is rapidly outgrowing school capacity, even the temporary “portables.” We all need to get prepared to vote for supporting a new school bond next year.

Like eating your vegetables, putting money into school infrastructure can be hard to swallow, but we all know it is the right thing to do. The decision voters make now impacts us all for years into the future. Like investing, paying now is smart. It means paying less than the extravagant amounts that will be required if we wait until drastic measures must be taken.

If we don’t support the bond, the high-school student population could become one of the largest in the state, with school employees attempting to teach teenagers in two shifts: 6 a.m. to noon, and another from noon to 6 p.m.

Clearly, this is not an acceptable way to teach our children, not to mention the burden this would put on the community.

The task force did an impressive job of addressing community input, researching, measuring impact and communicating the tough trade-offs. In the break-out sessions, task force members addressed questions while also providing information about how a sound educational infrastructure will help our entire community. We need to support our schools. The children are the future.

For more information, visit the web-site http://sharepoint.snoqualmie.k12.wa.us/ftf/default.aspx and tell a friend: eat your vegetables, vote “Yes” next year for the school bond.

Mary Alice Colvin

Carnation