Passing school bond won't be easy, but our kids are counting on us

August 23, 2022

By Mike Weland
Publisher

On August 30, Boundary County voters will decide whether our community's five-year-olds will, in two years or so, bravely but tearfully wave goodbye to moms and dads and step forward into the same Valley View Elementary attended by the adults they look up to going back 70-some years, or will the clock be reset, and these kids be the first to step into a safe new school their forebears; parents and grandparents, neighbors ... people they don't and will not ever know, bequeathed them.

The new kindergarteners will never know the difference. Their first day of school will be a singular day forever etched in their mind. At five, they don't know new classroom from old ... only that they were brave enough to let go of mommy's hand, smile bravely at their first teacher, learn that they possess a bin that is theirs alone, and begin to meet classmates who will be part of their lives forever.

Few kids going to class September 6, the first day of school, will have given much thought what their elders did or didn't do on Tuesday, August 30.
But every adult in Boundary County of age and qualified to cast a ballot should decide whether an investment in our children is sensible or whether we should instead hoard our wealth and vote "no."

Invest instead in ... what?

Personal ideology?

Aye ... but such is selfish. We can't agree on the proper color of socks let alone what constitutes education.

Instead of focusing on ourselves, our own profit or well being, perhaps we should think public; "of or concerning the people as a whole."

There are no people more voiceless than our children; none we profess to care about more sincerely, none who rely on us more. They are our children, and they depend on us. Good parents sacrifice ... with pride.

To give a Bonners Ferry child a safe new Valley View elementary, we can't think "my vote counts." It's not a simple 50/50 election. This vote requires  a 67.7-percent super majority. It won't be easy, but it must be done.