by Stacy Winstryg
If you have driven through Vail lately, you may have noticed all the new housing construction going on. With new houses comes new students. While this is a great thing, it brings added numbers to our already overcrowded schools. Vail high schools are currently over capacity. Cienega High School was built for 1,650 students and currently houses almost 2,100. Families are moving to Vail because of the excellent reputation of our schools. If this growth continues at the current pace, we are projected to be over capacity by 2,400 students in the next 5 years.
For all of these reasons, the governing board has called for a $61.3 million bond in November. This bond will pay for the following:
- New high school
- New K-8 school
- Improve the school district’s technology
- Health and safety issues
- Transportation needs
If the bond does not pass, the results will be disastrous. By law, the district must continue to accept students who move into the school boundaries. This will mean our schools will become more and more crowded, and the other needs like increased transportation and health and safety updates will have to be taken from the capital budget. It then becomes a domino effect on other budget areas like operations which pays for teachers and staff. Everything and everyone will be negatively impacted.
A bond is a great way for our community to show we support and invest in our excelling schools. The bond will be on the November ballot as Proposition 468. The Vail Parent Network is supportive of Prop 468, and we hope the Vail community will be as well. When we invest in our schools, we keep our community strong and our schools even stronger. Let’s help Vail schools continue the excellence we have grown to know and love!
