No one is against the future of our children. Snoqualmie Ridge, Upland residents or small-town mentalities are not the reason for the crunch our community is going through.

Were Snoqualmie Ridge residents told when purchasing homes that schools would be built there? Did they pay any additional school assessment fees on their purchase price? When we approved the special bond to upgrade our high school’s athletic fields, was it made clear to us that this was a multi-million dollar venture when our schools were already busting at the seams? Was there a reason the district presented a bond for a “want” before they presented the bond for a “need?”

Within the last several years, several of our schools have been remodeled. How many of the remodel dollars went toward cathedral entrances? Are these high, spacious ceilings an ever-continuing source of wasted heat, space and custodial resources? Did the taxpayers have an opportunity to review several options and the costs involved? Will these entrances help an “at risk” child graduate?

Our teachers and support staff are currently stretched to the max, maybe it would have been prudent to place a survey on the district Web site as well as in the Snoqualmie Valley Record explaining to taxpayers that a levy is for labor and overhead expenses, and a bond is for building schools or athletic fields.

We do care. Let’s get back to the basics of educating our children.

Carmen Kossow

North Bend