We Ridgefield residents have a school bond election fast approaching, a difficult decision with considerable consequences.
If we do pass the bond, we’ll be paying approximately $290 more per year than we’re paying now for a house assessed at $300,000. The money raised will build a new 72,000-square-foot K-4 elementary school, a new 50,000-square-foot fifth through sixth-grade intermediate school, new classrooms and a new vocational education building at the high school and provide upgrades to the Union Ridge and South Ridge playgrounds.
If we don’t pass the bond, we’ll save that $290 per year and South Ridge and Union Ridge will remain among the largest elementary schools in the state and become even more overcrowded than they are now. The new Sunset Ridge/View Ridge facility will quickly become overcrowded. The vocational education facilities at the high school will become more inadequate to the task of preparing Ridgefield kids for the many well-paid technical careers available in Clark County.
To help understand the challenge the school district faces and the quality of the plans to meet that challenge, there is good information on the district’s website ( ridgefieldsd.org ). Please be well informed and vote to support the bond Feb. 11.
