To the editor:

Change is difficult. As a school board, we know we must do things differently in order to get a different result for our students. We also know not everyone is going to be happy about the changes we make.
Unfortunately some in our community are taking their displeasure about these changes and turning it against November bond.

Several points in the October 20 letter opposing the bond require clarification.

Cost estimates for construction projects are posted online HYPERLINK "http://www.highlineschools.org/cms/lib07/WA01919413/Centricity/Domain/1…" here.

Detailed architectural plans are developed after voters have approved funding, so as not to spend money on plans that may not be used.
All school district financial records are public information and are available to anyone, as required by law.

The ranking of superintendents’ salaries referenced in the October 20 letter is based on inaccurate reporting data, and the HYPERLINK "http://q13fox.com/2013/12/16/high-paid-superintendents-say-property-poo…" news report that made it public has been retracted.

Administrators’ salaries cannot be paid with bond dollars.
Sixty percent of a tenth of your taxes is not equal to 60 percent of your entire tax bill.

The fact is that if the bond does not pass, we are left with a problem that will not go away on its own: crowded classrooms and aging buildings that are compromising our children’s education. Staff has spent the better part of a year examining solutions and has come up with one that represents months of research. Some of the ideas suggested by participants at community meetings were incorporated into our final bond proposal; other ideas were evaluated and eliminated.

Our track record of fiscal responsibility speaks for itself:
All schools built in the last decade were completed on time and on budget.

By refinancing bonds, we have reduced taxpayer debt by nearly $10 million.

By securing matching funds and managing construction dollars well, we generated enough non-bond money to build three additional schools.
We were elected to make hard decisions in the interest of all students. We cannot please all the people all the time, but we stand by this bond proposal as our best effort to fulfill our responsibility to the citizens, and especially the children, of this community.

Highline Public Schools Board of Directors
Michael Spear, President
Tyrone Curry, Vice President
Angelica Alvarez
Bernie Dorsey
Susan Goding