Letter To The Editor: Investing In SK Schools The Right Way

We have not invested like we should in our school facilities - in fact, the last major elementary school upgrade was when I was a student at Wakefield Elementary over 30 years ago and the last high school addition was when I was a student there over 20 years ago! As a parent of three young kids in the district, I would go further and say that with state reimbursement opportunities, we have a once in a generation opportunity to invest in our schools. But this cuts both ways: we will not be able to make significant upgrades in our facilities for another generation after this project, which means we have one shot to get this right.

The example of the Broad Rock Middle School project should be instructive for us now: a planning process that failed to properly account for enrollment decline and site limitations that put us in a poor place to serve our current needs. The current facilities plan takes the facility in poorest condition (Curtis Corner Middle School) and pours the vast majority of the $85MM budget into that school - and we don’t even actually get a new high school! What’s worse is that the rest of our schools receive virtually no improvements despite a desperate need for them.

The plan also takes the Columbia Street High School and Hazard Building offline with some promising it will easily become affordable housing. Where are the voices who said that if we closed Wakefield Elementary, it would devastate Main Street businesses and leave a vacant building in the middle of town?

Some may say, “if you don’t support this plan, you don’t support our schools.” Some may say, “if we don’t pass this bond, we won’t ever be able to get state reimbursements.” Many of these same voices, ironically, said the exact opposite when they opposed the previous facilities plan. The truth is that this is a once in a generation opportunity and we can’t afford to get it wrong. This plan gets it wrong, and we can and must take the time to get it right. Rather than let yourself be pressured to do otherwise, vote your conscience.

Josh Daly
South Kingstown