Our community deserves a safe, secure, and accessible high school. By now readers know - if they didn’t before this bond - that our existing high school has shortcomings where accessibility, safety, security, and climate control are concerned. We know the cafeteria is grossly under-sized, leading many students to leave the campus during lunch and others to eat while sitting on floors in hallways and stairways.

I find the Sept 24 CCC News article to be a clear & easy read to explain how the combined hard and soft costs for the bond is $772/sqft (blueprints, building permits, student desks) and the hard cost (the physical building) is $509/sqft.  The comparison school, Caldera in Bend, was nearly exactly the same. 

But time grinds on and this once "state of the art" building has worn out. Building security is now everyone's priority. That was not a major concern when the high school was originally built. If the building isn't safe and secured no amount of training can protect staff and students from harm.

More important than comfort, however, is safety. The most disturbing duty I had as a teacher was participating in “active shooter” drills with my students. Thinking about why we needed such drills was bad enough, but realizing that I could not fit all my students into a place in the classroom where they would all be safe made it so much worse.

When the community sends a positive message about education, by passing school measures, students thrive. It is our generation’s opportunity and responsibility to provide for this and future generations of students in The Dalles.

We also look forward to building a high school that welcomes all students with ADA-compliant accessibility. The way our current high school was constructed (with concrete doorways) means that it is literally impossible to widen them to accommodate wheelchairs.

I see that there is a big project going on around The Dalles making curb cuts at the corners. I’m so glad to see this because after my husband had a stroke and was in a wheelchair, it was nearly impossible to get him around town. If we had to go to appointments other than at the hospital where they have access, there was no way to get over curbs. He died eight years ago, but the pain is still fresh when I see this injustice.

As an avid outdoorsman, I care deeply about our parks. I want to ensure we are managing our resources wisely and ensuring a strong and stable parks system for years to come. I also want to protect access to our parks and make sure groups like The Dalles Little League have safe and vibrant fields to utilize.