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.

First: the schools are full. They are overcrowded right now and we know that 1,000 plus students are coming the next 10 years.  And that’s before the donut hole gets sold and developed, which it invariably will.

As such, we have a choice to make. Do we want to continue providing high quality education to our kids by making sure there is room for them by building to accommodate them or do we want to adjust how we schedule our schools which will lead to lower educational options for the kids? It’s that simple.

It’s clear to me, choosing to go to multitrack year-round schools or double shifting will put our kids at an educational disadvantage in our highly competitive, global world.

On such schedules, the class or classes your child may need or wish to take may only be available on one shift or one track. If your child is on a different track, he or she would be out of luck.

In a multitrack school, a class that is only offered once means your child would only have a 25 percent chance of being on the correct track to get it.  When many of us graduated, we competed against people from Renton and Kent to find employment.  When these kids graduate, they will be competing against job candidates from around the world from countries that are investing in their youth.

We need to show that same level of commitment to our youth to ensure they have the educational opportunities they need to compete, not artificially reducing those options and restricting the type of education kids receive in the Tahoma school district.

Secondly: I’ve seen and heard a lot of opinions about the school bond. In particular in the “no” camp, I’ve seen a lot of assumptions and misperceptions about the issues. For instance, while it sounds great to pay for new schools strictly through growth, the reality is that school districts are limited by what they can garner through fees on new development.  Those fees are projected to only generate about $3.1 million out of the needed $125 million on the school bond. The facts are out there. I’d suggest all interested voters to arm themselves with knowledge by visiting www.tahomavote.org. And when in doubt, contact the school district directly. I’m sure they’d be happy to answer any questions you may.

I’m sure they’d be happy to answer any questions you may.  It’s a local election – take advantage of talking to the people who are right here in the community who are happy to help provide you information on the issues.

In the meantime, please vote yes!

Sean Stewart

Maple Valley

Show a strong level of commitment to our youth and vote for Tahoma School District construction bond | Letter