Dear Editor,
Recently, I drove my son through the Shepherd Schools. A few years ago, I had the chance to eat lunch with my nephew in the same lunchroom where I ate lunch 30 years ago. Now I can’t do that because they eat in classrooms. I then found out that the building where I used to sing in choir is now condemned.
In thirty years, my beloved Shepherd school has not seen any significant updates. There hasn’t been a death from fire in a school since 1958, the old building doesn’t need those upgrades. We need to prevent someone from being able to pull a kid out of school or someone coming on campus to harm kids. In the USA we average about 10 school shootings a year with 375 of these resulting in deaths or injuries. This bond helps that by creating secure entries and by limiting outside transitions.
Overcrowding isn’t only about number of graduates. The number of students requiring special services has increased. These are the students relegated to closets and hallways. This is a disservice to students that need a little more help.
Shepherd has done a phenomenal job as stewards of our schools. The fact that I can walk through most of the facilities, and they look as same as they did thirty years ago is both promising and troublesome. To suggest that this school doesn’t need TLC outside of typical maintenance is completely ignoring common sense. Can you imagine not having to do any type of major work in your home for 30 years? Now imagine you have had thousands of kids running through it. The kindergarten building is now condemned. Part of the school is an old restaurant. This is a good indication of Shepherd’s responsible use of funds that both lasted this long.
It is not lost on me the actual financial impact of the imposed taxes on Shepherd citizens. My family will pay, and some will have trouble with an increase in taxes. They support this bond because they love this community. Shepherd doesn’t get the support from businesses as other communities. That is the cost of living in the community without businesses. Shepherd community members have an obligation to support their town.
It is time to provide the community of Shepherd the school it deserves. Trust that the architects and educators have put together the needs of our school, with the education of the students in mind. These are the qualified professionals that know what they are talking about. Vote YES for this bond. Make sure Shepherd continues to provide a quality educational facility that matches the quality of the educators that work there and the community that supports it. Now is the time to take care of our community.
Mark Beddes
Shepherd, MT
