I want to express my support for the Tahoma school bond. I’ve talked to many people in the community and seen many of the letters written by other community members. It leads me to two points that I feel merit emphasis.
Here’s the deal: Our schools are full! Look around and see the construction beginning; have you seen the 40 acres of trees that have been clear cut out in Ravensdale? My gut tells me it isn’t a shopping center, but new homes with more students.
“It is now time for the community to make a decision about how its schools will accommodate current and projected enrollment. The decision is not limited to facilities. Whatever choice the community makes will affect the quality of education for Tahoma students now and in the future.” The 2011 Tahoma Construction and remodeling bond measure pamphlet.
I’d like to take a moment to encourage you to take the opportunity to approve the Tahoma School District bond.
Our family will be voting to approve because we believe that strong, quality schools mean opportunities to enjoy more quality, varied and educational experiences for our community. Providing adequate space and up-to-date facilities create an optimal learning environment.
As a public school employee and private citizen, I work and volunteer to build enriched communities, advocate for community connections and to prepare for the future.
For a reasonably long period of time, I have been a third grade teacher at Lake Wilderness Elementary School. Our student population exceeds 1,000. We may be the largest elementary school in the state of Washington. Each year in the classroom we build a community, engage in learning with cutting edge Tahoma curriculum and use our habits of mind and thinking skills to foster problem solving and critical thinking.
I’m a long time Renton/Skyway resident writing to let the community know how proud I am of the potential partnership with our very own Valley Medical Center and University of Washington Medicine. It’s at the exploratory stage right now, but the possibilities seem endless and this would be a momentous step for the future of our community and regional healthcare.
My daughter is in kindergarten at Rock Creek Elementary School.
I’m voting “yes” for Tahoma schools in the April bond election, and I hope you will, too.
I began teaching in the state of Washington 27 years ago.
When I moved into the state, and after a year, moving to the west side of the state, I had a professional goal of teaching in the Kent School District. The district had a state-wide reputation for providing quality education and, as a music teacher, a commitment to music education as part of a comprehensive, whole-child approach to what students need to succeed.
The Tahoma School District is set to ask voters to approve a $150 million, ($125 million levy and $25 million federal matching funds) levy, a very large sum for a small district.
I understand the need for capital improvements primarily to Lake Wilderness Elementary, (it was in need of repair when I attended it), but another new elementary school in addition to the wish list the district has seems out of scale for the population of the district.
There is a lot of buzz over the dramatic cuts the Kent School District is facing. I spend my work life and much of my free time working to make education better for all kids and want to ask everyone to consider this. What will you do? What will you do to make things better for our kids? They are our future. Study after study after study shows that where you have a school that has parent/community involvement you have improved student success.
Like many Maple Valley residents, I moved to this area years ago because of its natural beauty and wide open spaces. What sealed the deal was its great small town feel and its highly regarded Tahoma School District.
I did not move here for the “big box” style shopping and I will argue that those who are hoping to bring that to our community should instead move to one of the many nearby cities that offer the variety and convenience of shopping they desire.
About 25 years ago I came to Black Diamond to look at the site of my new home. I met a policeman by the name of Kevin Esping. He must have been watching the site of the new mobile home park for senior citizens, called Rainier View, a vision that the prior director of King County Housing Authority, Jim Wiley, had for Black Diamond. Thanks Jim.
If you are an area resident that has no kids in the Tahoma School District you might be asking yourself, “why should I vote for the 2011 Tahoma school bond issue?”
The selfish answer is simple. The continued ability of the Tahoma School District to be rated at the top of our state’s education system will continue to drive housing demand in the Maple Valley area.
In our wonderful Tahoma community we are fortunate to have one of the best school systems in our state and students that work hard to achieve the vigorous standards.
The truth is, though, that our schools are full and the enrollment in Tahoma will continue to grow over the next 10 years, to a point that we will be beyond our physical capacity to house students in a safe learning environment.
The Maple Valley Youth Symphony obviously has a stake in whether or not this bond passes.
The bond contains plans for building an auditorium, which would give us a great venue in Maple Valley in which to perform. But, there’s so much more.
I went to the town hall meeting Saturday featuring the three 47th District legislators. One earnestly observed that the state has a spending problem not a revenue problem.
The reaction by a segment of the crowd was disgust. I hope people can see that the facts support the legislator.
47th District representatives Mark Hargrove, Pat Sullivan and Sen. Joe Fain met with the citizens this past Saturday for a lively discussion of the issues they are grappling with as they try to find the best ways to balance the state budget.
Most of us listened politely as questions were asked and answers given. Most of us understand that we have a serious problem because government at every level has grown far too large to be sustainable. Most of us have made adjustments to live within our means.
Many people in the historic town of Black Diamond like to keep to themselves. A city with just over 4,000 residents, it holds the unusual distinction in King County of not having changed much in the last 50 years.
One local resident describes the town this way, “It’s a down-to-earth place where people come because they like it small. You don’t have to keep your yard perfectly manicured, the homes are unique and there are a lot of old-timers.”
Who owns what in the Yarrow Bay MPDs?
When a preliminary plat application for The Villages MPD (master planned development) phase 1A was submitted to Black Diamond last month there was some confusion over just who owns the property. Part of the application was a certification of ownership signed by Brian Ross swearing that he is the owner of the property. But the title to the property is held by BD Village Partners.
It would seem that health and education have little to do with local economic development, but in reality, and for a lot of reasons, they are critical, and we are in a state of crisis.
For my diehard Republican friends, yes, universal health care is indeed “socialism,” but guess what, so are fire departments, police departments, armed forces, public works, libraries, public education and all levels of government. Government exists for one purpose, and one purpose only, to protect its citizens from within and from without. Personal education and personal health are the basics for being knowledgeable and able enough to defend ourselves and prevail. In particular to health care and education, when the public sector competes directly with the private sector, and at the expense of the private sector, we become divided, and our sense of altruistic moral and democratic values has been unconscionably lost, most likely due to avarice.
