Pass the Helena school bonds and leave a legacy to be proud of | Opinion
MONTANA ALLIANCE FOR RETIRED AMERICANS
JAY REARDON, MOFFIE FUNK and AL EKBLAD
We represent the Montana chapter of the Alliance for Retired Americans, a coalition of retired educators, construction workers, state and federal government workers, and community leaders.
We exist to educate and engage retired Montanans on important issues facing our communities and how we can create a stronger, brighter future for all Montanans.
Everyone loves their neighborhood school. The pride we feel in the schools we go to and the communities we build around them is universal. And Helena Public Schools consistently perform at a high level when it comes to graduation rates and student achievement.
But not all our school buildings reflect that excellence or match the pride we feel in our community.
This September, Helena voters have the chance to weigh in on two bonds. One is a high school bond that will rebuild Helena High and Project for Alternative Learning, fund critical upgrades at Capital High, and build a new, adequately-sized and outfitted central kitchen that feeds every student. The other bond will rebuild Kessler, currently Helena’s oldest functioning school at 89 years old and in a state of great disrepair.
Building a stronger future has a price tag, but the return on our investment is invaluable. Fortunately, bonds are a chance for our community to come together and decide how we want to spend our resources. Investing in our schools has a guaranteed return rate of a stronger community, better educational outcomes, and a way to encourage the next generation to one day live, work, and raise a family here. If we don’t make this investment for our kids and grandkids, who will?
Those of us who have benefitted from decades of prior investment in schools now need to look to the future.
These two bonds will fund a fiscally responsible plan to ensure our schools are safe, secure, and adequate to provide our students the future they deserve. If we don’t act now, Helena will continue to fall behind other communities across Montana who have made recent investments in their schools, building state-of-the-art facilities like Career and Technical Education classrooms that prepare students for the careers of the future.
Retired Montanans have worked hard. We’ve raised our kids, invested in our community, and closed out successful careers. Now it’s time to look toward our children’s children and beyond.
Let’s pass these two Helena school bonds and leave a legacy we can be proud of.
Jay Reardon, Montana Alliance for Retired Americans president; Moffie Funk, secretary, and Al Ekblad, treasurer