Letters to the Editor

To the voters in Gray and New Gloucester:

On Tuesday November 8, you have the opportunity to make a positive change for our community. Please vote yes to support the local bond to renovate and upgrade our schools. Although $10.2 million seems like a huge sum, we can fix up all five of our schools with help from the state ($2.2. million outright and $1.8 million in an interest-free loan).

Memorial and Russell will be renovated including replacing the 60 year old wood sections with new brick structures, the water leakage problem will be fixed at the Middle School to prevent future structural damage or mold issues, classroom space will be added at Dunn to replace the portables and a number of upgrades will be done at the high school including moving the administration office to the front entry so that the office staff can see who is entering the high school, increasing cafeteria space so kids don't have to sit in the hallway to eat lunch, updating the 40 year old science labs and renovating gym, music and drama space. We can do all this at a cost to taxpayers of only one or two dollars a week.

If your home is assessed at $100,000 for tax purposes, the largest increase in your yearly tax bill will only be $52 or $104 for a $200,000 home (slightly higher in Gray).

We could sit home and not pass this bond. It wouldn't cost us any money this year but in the future we would either watch the schools fall apart around our children or we would be spending upwards of $15 million per school to build new ones without any help from the state. Let's do something constructive for our community - vote yes for the local bond on November 8.

Beth Sutherland, New Gloucester