" Great, now I need to create a mysterious facebook page so nobody knows who I am! Ray D's the only person in this town brave enough to use his name everytime! "

" And I've never been happier! "

" Ontario School District Don't Look Back
on facebook
Ask to Join . Approval shall be prompt "

" Bonded, you only eat out twice a year and you dont have Fox news??? You poor thing you......... "

" If there is going to be a face book page posted here it better be quick before they pull this blog off the main screen. If they do, just search the title of the article in the built in search engine (top right of your screen) and you will still find all the wonderful comments posted here.

Additionally, just my two cents having read over all this, and there are some good points both for and against. The bottom line is that sometime, something is going to have to be done. These schools are old and it is time for major renavation. If there is money out there for just that, we would be stupid not to take advantage of it. I will be voting yes if they go after a bond, fedral money or not. "

" To Wandering: Of course I go without those things! What sort of hypocrite would I be if I didn't. Long ago, I prioritized my life. ESPN and FoxNews didn't come out on top, so away went cable. Same with the newspaper and magazines. I eat out maybe twice a year - I've learned to cook! Imagine that! If you spend $360 a year on cable, are you telling me that the stuff you watch is more valuable to you than the building that your child goes to school in? "

" Please let us know when that Facebook group is open. Not only do I want to join in support of passing a bond, but I'd love to pass it on to other people in this town!
Facts are FACTS... the schools are old and insufficient. It's a great price for what the Task Force has proposed, with or without the grant money. Everything negative that has been said and posted in this blog is really irrelevant at this point. "

" Labeling and calling opponents names is a surefire way to end in defeat. Denial of reality is also not a good strategy. "

" So, Ray, you are saying we shouldn't make these upgrades (listed again below) because you just have a feeling the schools may close at some unknow time in the future? And, at the same time, you complain about the lack of maintenance to the buildings?

I promice you would feel different if your family just moved to Ontario.

Here is the complete list of items school bond money will go to at Pioneer; door hardware replacement, fire sprinkler install, fire alarm upgrade, carpet replacment, ADA toilet remodel, add electrical outlets, HVAC replacement, acoustic panels for gym, and add data raceways. That is it. Sounds really unreasonable doesn't it? How could you, or anyone have a problem with these improements? Safe, warm, and dry. Get it? "

" Curmudgeon. Your problems with the school boards of the past do noting for my kids. The school board is an ELECTED and administrative board. If past schools boards didn't do a good job maintaining our buildings, shame on the voters. That includes you Ray.

To stay on subject, Ontario has a once in a lifetime opportunity to reduce the cost of improvements to our schools. Like you Ray, I am not a fan of government, public schools or stimulus. However, this money is going to get spent somewhere, and it might as well be in Ontario. God knows this place could use a shot in the arm. "

" This happens any time the number of posts goes past 20. We run out of supporting evidence for out cause and start either repeating our rhetoric, or attacking individuals we disagree with.

Can we please stick to the point of the article, which is the opportunity to pass a bond at a reduced taxpayer burden.

Let our arguments volley about the issue, not the argument.

Thanks "

" All I know about OSD is what I read in the Argus, and that is not much. I am not throwing bombs, I am merely speculating based on having observed “human behavior”, and particularly that of “governing bodies” for more than 50 years. They promise much more than they have the ability or resources to deliver, and then move on to let others clean up their messes, generally. They also have been known to deceive, really! The latest move at home, and at the state and federal levels is to borrow and let our kids and grandkids pay the bills and clean up the messes. It is really about preserving present day bureaucracies and their perks. Treat politicians the way Reagan treated the Russians, “trust but verify.”

My blog about the potential closure of Cairo and Pioneer is based on the financial realities the Board must face in the near future. Should measures 66 and 67 fail, as they should, budgets at all levels of government will have to be tightened. Additionally, the District is facing a steep surcharge to cover a shortfall in PERS funding that has been estimated at $20 Billion, (notice the “B”). If these things happen, it will not matter that the bond contained money for Cairo and Pioneer, because there will be other overriding considerations, like insufficient staffing and no money for utilities.

If you’re interested in PERS, may I recommend a book by former Oregon Secretary of State, Phil Keisling, titled “PERS in Crisis: The Sequel” . You can get it on Google by entering the title. In short, $20B shortfall, or about $5,000 for each Oregon resident. That is on top of hundreds of thousands owed the Fed’s by every US resident. I recommend signing up for Oregon Senator Whitsett’s e-newsletter, at orstateleg@service.govdelivery.com. And, that shortfall is going to be made up by additional payments from agency budgets.

Most revealing in Senator Whitsett’s December 01, 2009 newsletter, is that in 2008, the average wage and benefits for State employees was $68,131; in 2009, $69,028; increase $897. Additionally, work schedules have been reduced, so they get more pay for doing less. Some State employees only work 200 hours per year, so there is a 20% overstaffing to cover the shortened work schedule. Also, during this same period, 2008 to 2009, 1,700 employees have been added to bring the total to 50,000. That is only State employees, add in education, cities, counties and other agencies, the total exceeds 170,000.

My question is, if all of this is unsustainable, how is now the right time to take on more debt, be it for a local bond, or more employees or anything else, including stimulus spending? Is it that I do not understand, or am I just being a Curmudgeon? "

" Joe, no worries. Cario and Pioneer will not close...Period. Ray made a false and irresponsible statement. The superintendant has made this fact very clear, and in the Task Force's 20 year facilities plan both schools will receive critical improvements and remain open. "

" Ray is extremely good at throwing lies out there just enough to scare the other Dickersonias. The amazing part is this phenomenon is indeed killing the livability factor of Ontario. The Dickersonias need to realize that it is not about them.

Stay tuned for a Facebook group. If the Argus won't dispel the lies and rumors. we will "

" Spoken like a true liberal.(Ref what the government money would cost us)Its FREE yahoo lets get some oh wait a minute it might cost us 1.05 per thousand no wait a minute it could be 1.10 or a little bit higher. Give me a break........You Ontario Libs can can take your bond and -oh wait I'm not allowed to say that. What I can do is vote NO now and forever........

Bonded--What a joke. Are you skipping all the things you think the rest of us should skip? Did you also fire your maid? You and folks like you who earn (I'm guessing here) in acess of 300,000 a year and go home to your 500,000 houses have no concept of sacrifice. To bad I do not have the power to put you on a very limited fixed income would you then be so quick to tell the rest of us what to skip? You might skip to the polls and vote NO "

" Wow. Get your facts straight. Cario and Pioneer are going to get a combined 1.2 million in improvements if the bond passes. That is a fact. The dumbest of school boards would not spend this kind of money on a school with plans to close it.

Ray, like always, is lobbing bombs form the sidelines trying to keep the waters muddy for those people trying to improve our schools and community.

FYI, here is the complete list of items school bond money will go to at Pioneer; door hardware replacement, fire sprinkler install, fire alarm upgrade, carpet replacment, ADA toilet remodel, add electrical outlets, HVAC replacement, acoustic panels for gym, and add data raceways. That is it. Sounds really unreasonable doesn't it? How could you, or anyone have a problem with these improements? Safe, warm, and dry. Get it?

The improvements sought at the rest of the schools are very similar. "

" If they close Cairo, my kids will finish school elsewhere. I don't care what side of the river I live on, and since I don't own anything over here, it would be easy to move.

And if nothing is changed at the middle and high school level when my children reach that age, again, we are moving. "

" The classroom problems at the middle school could have been fixed with the maintenance money that was withheld for 25 years, so OSD would have a ragtag building to justify getting a bond passed. That money was then used to add additional classrooms to other schools, at the same time enrollment has dropped by 200 kids (12 classrooms) over the past few years, even with the addition of full day Kindergarten. More classrooms for fewer kids is more important than having upgraded electrical circuits at the middle school, apparently.

Cairo and Pioneer schools should be closed and they probably will be after the Board gets a bond approved. The Board does not want to address the subject publically in order to keep the rural voting precincts on their side. I predict that as soon as the bond passes, the Board will declare a crisis. They will be saying we have to end football, or teacher coaches or something similar unless we close those old and obsolete rural schools. Mark my words.

My suggestion, a few years ago, was to consolidate all of the schools in the center of town, a massive bond program I would have supported. The neighborhood school system is divisive and is what has led to many of the social problems in our schools and community, and probably account more for the low graduation rate and performance than any other single issue, but it is not about the kids, as I’ve said so many times before.

I always know when I’m being attacked by liberals, because their arguments lack substance and only vilify the messenger. Those who say “I want, no matter the cost” are naïve and are a bigger part of the problem than those who want to hold down spending. Public schools are a “rent seeking” activity. They have a monopoly; they demand more without measured production; the “system” uses children as a means of obtaining funds rather than demonstrated performance. Competition would bring an end to this situation, but that is a fighting word around educators.

If people think new school buildings will be a magnet that will attract middle and upper class folk to Ontario, they need to better understand the land use practices in Oregon vs. Idaho, the sales tax issue, the property tax and homeowner’s programs of the two states and much more. It is much more than just new schools. "

" Here is the problem I see: Race.

Without trying to sound racist, the factor that contributes the most to poor school performance is uneducated parents, typically those of transient, or recently immigrated, families from Mexico and Central American countries.

Now, not everyone who speaks Spanish is a culprit. The problem comes from parents who place little or no value on their children's education.

New facilities will not teach these parents to read, either English or Spanish. Nor will they help kids at home, where they have little or no parental involvement with school work.

That being said, the bond must PASS! What value do we place on the health of our children? Do we care that there are areas of mold in some high school classes? Do we care that there are still tons of asbestos in our schools?

Our society demands that people be able keep up with technology. Our schools can't help with that without improvements.

How much is enough??? I have no idea because I am not in a position to know what the costs would be. But, if it costs millions of dollars to protect even one child from being damaged by airborne Black Mold, it is a bargain! "

" The biggest problem here is that you want an answer that you know you cannot get. If it were as easy as you wish it was, we would already know. This is education, a system that does its best in spite of NCLB and a million other federal and state mandates to educate every single child in America. You want to know how much it costs per child and how we can measure the results... there really is no way to tell because every child has different needs, different support at home, different living situations, etc. etc. etc...... you can't put a price tag on each student and "do the math," it just doesn't work that way, that shouldn't be that hard to figure out.

You want to know how we measure results. Again, it isn't a simple answer, for the same reasons. Every child is different. Do we measure actual growth, or judge learning based on some arbitray line that someone drew in the sand. Is high school graduation the most important thing in the world, or do we face up to the fact that maybe high school in this American system of education really isn't for everyone. I know loads of folks who have great jobs and are successful members of society that didn't graduate from a "High School" for one reason or another. Is there really something wrong with a person choosing to get a GED if that is the best avenue for them in their life?

You are right, buildings may not improve the learning, they may not increase the graduation rates, and they won't guarantee that we have high quality teachers. But they will improve this community. That is one of the main things people look at in any community. It seems to me that this community could use all the help it can get. Which is why I supported the bond last time, and will do so again this time. In the end, I could care less about the cost of education per child and how much is enough. I just want my kids to go to schools that are safe, warm, and dry, and have a chance at a 21st century education. I don't want to move my kids to another district just because of the condition of the schools in this town, I have too much pride in Ontario to do that. I just want whats best for my kids, and everyone elses. Why don't you? "

" So, I ask for the third time, how much is enough money? What will it take before all the kids get properly educated and socialized? How big and how fancy of a school would it take to make it all happen? Tell me! I said a person cannot have a rational conversation about education because the emotions run way too high, and the comments about this messenger rather than the subject prove my case. It is difficult for me to believe some of you might really be educators as the kids deserve better. Give us more money; give us new schools; give us more programs; give us more staff; give us fewer kids; give us new technology; give us, “for the children.” However, when I ask how much it will take and how will we measure results, I get called all sorts of names but get no answers.

Marshal your forces and get the bond passed. I am only one person and if my reputation is as flaky as you all suggest than why worry about what I write or think. Just go out there and get the job done. You failed to get the job done last time, and I went out of my way to not make a single public statement on the matter pro or con. I really don’t care whether a bond passes or not. What I would much rather see is a greater percentage of the kids in OSD graduating with their classmates, and being able to enter college without a couple years of remedial education. Can I be assured that new buildings will get this accomplished? I don’t think so. "

" Seriously, Ray? What a joke! Did you not read the article about the teacher who HAS to teach from the back of her classroom because that's the only place her technology can be accessed electronically? The electric wiring in those old building are horrible, and I bet there are many teachers in the same boat. How well can a classroom be managed when the students' backs are to the teacher? How effective can the teaching be when the students can't see the teacher from where they're sitting? There are excellent things happening IN the schools, but it could be SO MUCH BETTER with new facilities. I find it extremely pitiful that you don't want to do something that could improve the City of Ontario or make the education better for the children that live here. ESPECIALLY because the price tag is SO inexpensive! I think it's time you go elsewhere and take your propaganda with you. There are people here that would like to see things improve, not sit in their homes and complain. "

" I think that the rural community was a bit off last time due to some discussions about closing Pioneer and Cairo and busing all the kids into town. From what I have been hearing around town that is not even a consideration at this point, infact I think both those schools stand to see some great improvements to their facilities if another bond is attempted and passed. "

" Okay Ray,

Most of the time when I read your stuff I just blow it off, as do most of the people in this community from what I have heard. To say your reputation preceeds you is an understatement.

But there at the end of you note you mentioned that, "It is all about the face-time teachers have with their students, the quality of the instruction during that face-time, the discipline in the classroom and parent involvement." And you point out that the buildings have nothing to do with it. So then, by your logic, if one were a great teacher, you could be placed in a potato shed with no computers and very limited resources and as long as the students parents were supportive and the teacher was strick the kids would learn. Give me a break. You cannot convince me that you can teach a kid how to effectively use a computer without putting them on one for a significant part of their day, and state testing doesn't count. You cannot convince me that kids learn well, no matter how good the teaching is, when they don't feel safe, or the room is freezing cold. You can have the best teachers in the world, the bottom line, and we all know it instictively, is that the better the facilities are, the better the learning CAN be. I didn't say that it will be because I agree, buildings don't make the learing better on their own, but they DO HELP!!! It is just common sense that you will get better teachers in your district if you have better facilities. Would you want to work in an old worn out building that hinders your job performance?

You don't have to like the government, you don't have to agree with the NEA or who ever, all you have to do is be honest with yourself and ask if you want your kids going to schools in this condition. If you don't have kids, imagine you do, or picture your grand kids (or in some cases great grand kids) walking the same halls you walked when you were a youngster. It is time to make some improvements around here, it isn't going to get any cheaper than it is right now. There is a real need. Step up people, its time to do what we all know is right." "

" Sorry Ray. I've never heard of the AFT. Only about 60% of Ontario's teachers belong to the Union. It is quite weak in Ontario and the admin. barely considers any thing they say. Sorry, your entire last post was a clean swing and a miss. Quit trying to apply your national bias on a local problem. Crawl out of your cave, turn down the radio, log off the computer and come into the schools and talk to the people in the trenches. Then formulate an opinion that sounds locally informed and not from people trying to make a political point on a national stage. I am a conservative individual and have heard all of these voices on TV and radio say all of the things that you are saying. The reality that I see in the school building is no where near that perception that you have swallowed hook line and sinker. The teachers are not your enemy. You quoted W. Here is another quote that is costing local school districts across the country billions of dollars annually, "No Child Left Behind." I voted for W. twice. I voted against Obama. But, if you want to know where the dollars in education are going, start with those 4 words. The costs involved with that program are astronomical. Not that the desired results aren't noble and admirable, but when governments get involved in reform...well, lets just say that the costs can spiral out of control. But Ray, if you are blaming the teachers, especially here locally, you are grossly misinformed. Stop by and we can talk about it. "

" I would agree with Ray that the quality of education is more about the quality of teachers (and administrators) than about the buildings. Perhaps instead of putting a building bond on the ballot, we should put some administrative names on the ballot and see who the public wants to run the schools - although I tend to trust this superintendent' judgment more than the last one. Nothing personal. "

" is why the bond will NEVER pass as long as the squeaky wheels get the grease and Ray is one of them. Bond supporters unite and be heard. The squeaky wheels in this ttown are helpingbring it down "

" I ask again, how much is enough money for education? And, yes, I know that none of the $30 million in the budget can be spent on new buildings, but then sometimes some of it is. A percentage goes to a building maintenance fund. Rather than spending that money on maintenance, because administrators think that if the buildings deteriorate it makes it easier to sell a bond to the public, it is allowed to accumulate. When the account gets so full it becomes a burden to getting more money for the District, it gets spent via the recommendations of a public committee, (task force) on new construction or remodel. However, the impact of not having properly maintained the school buildings for 25 years is as difficult to overcome as is the reputation of the OSD for not being able to pass a bond.

It is impossible to have a rational discussion about education because the emotions run much too high, and there is way too much subjectivity and relativity that simply can’t be measured. Therefore, my approach is to look only at the value for dollar spent, not from whence it comes.

We all are subject to a campaign engineered by the “education industry”, namely the NEA, AFT, OEA, PTA and the media, to grow education, “for the children,” while really the children have little to do with anything, other than being the lever with which to get resources for the industry. The head of the AFT once declared that his organization would start worrying about the kids when the kids started paying union dues. Inform yourselves by reading up on the agenda of the various organization and see if you agree with what they are pushing on our kids in the name of education. Look at the expansion of schools into community centers, yearlong cafeterias, medical centers, clubs for kids, etc., all in the name of taking care of the children. I call it enabling and the destruction of the family and a free society. I know of a California school where parents drop their kids off at school in their pajama’s for the school to dress them, feed them, get their hair combed and their teeth brushed, and keep the kids in school for the entire day, three meals, and possibly to hold the kids overnight if the parents don’t pick them up. Is this where education is headed? Where is the line drawn? I say it can only be drawn by limiting funds.

I am just one person. I have pushed back against the expansion of education and government for much of my life, because neither is helpful to our society as I see it. The overall burden of government can actually be called “plundering” because the costs are bankrupting the nation one state at a time. California has retired school superintendents, fire chiefs, police chiefs, etc., with incomes of $175,000 or more, and has been issuing IOU’s or begging and borrowing money from the federal government to meet obligations, and Oregon is not much different, only the scale might be a little less.

George Bush once famously asked, “Is our children learning?” I say, not very well and at way too much cost. I hear politicians say the “costs” are unsustainable, but then they continue to expand government. I say I am just one person, pushing back.

Moreover, there is no relationship between the appearance and quality of school buildings and the quality of the education children receive. It is all about the face-time teachers have with their students, the quality of the instruction during that face-time, the discipline in the classroom and parent involvement. "

" To Ray.

Could not agree more. Those numbers make my head spin. The problem is, none of that money goes to facilities. I wish some of that money could be diverted to a building fund, but that is never going to happen. I am not happy about spending more on the schools, but we have to have safe, quality schools. My grandkids will be in them in a few years! "

" Geez RD, all that math so early in the morning makes my head spin, but then look where I went to school. (And that was before the place was falling down.) "

" I also said that when my children reached school age my family was going to move across the river. At the moment though I am so very pleased with Cairo School that I cannot take my children out and plan on leaving them there until they finish their final year there.

But if something doesn't happen to the middle school and high school, I won't hesitate to put them in another school. I'll rent a dump in Fruitland and claim it as our primary residence just to get my kids out of what is currently a mess in the midde/high schools in Ontario if I have to. It would be worth the 300-400 bucks a month just to establish residency, even if we still "live" over here. Like paying a small fee to go to a better school. My kids are worth it. "

" $10,000 per student per year? And the teachers get paid about a dollar per student per day? "

" But Ray, people do not value what they do not have to pay for themselves. Perhaps parents do not care that their children don't graduate because they (the parents) haven't had to pay much into it. They're not invested in it. "

" 30 million dollars for 2777 students K-12. That is a little over $10,000 per student per year, or about $250,000 per classroom. Over 13 years of education, that is $130,000 per high school diploma. But wait, only about 55% graduate with their classmates, making each HS diploma cost $220,000 in today's dollars. So how much is enough?
Robin Hood is very good to OSD. We should all be very thankful to those generous folk across the state who subsidize our schools and appreciate what we have. "

" I wonder how many unregistered voters there are in Ontario? If you're one of them, register and VOTE! Your kids, and mine, NEED this to happen! I'll assure you one thing, if Ontario doesn't pass a school bond, I'll be leaving this town when my children reach school age. What's happening IN the schools is fantastic, but I'll do what I have to in order to guarentee my children will have the same education and opportunities as the kids on the West Side of Oregon. Not a threat, just necessary. "

" You're SO right! Overall, what the Task Force has proposed, the schools would be getting quite a bit for not a huge price tag! It's really NOT that much! Ontario's known for being a "poor community", but have you ever watched the high school and middle school students leave campus and whip out their cell phones? When a household budget gets tight, you prioritize, get rid of the luxuries, and move on. It's time to prioritize for Ontario!! Thanks Bonded! It's good to know there are people in this town with their priorities and mind straight! "

" The rural community consists of a bunch of old f.arts that no longer have children in school.

Good luck getting them to vote in favor of anything for our children.

Try doing a food drive in those areas, the bigger the house the smaller the donation.

And then everyone else in on welfare, many with questionable citizenship and an obvious lack of motivation. "

" As I read these blogs, it seems that there are plenty of people who see the need and will support a bond, yet it failed last time. (By such a small margin!) Where are the people who voted no and will continue to vote no? I'd LOVE to hear from them and their reasons for not supporting Ontario! Maybe we're not hearing from them because they are content to sit back and do nothing? "

" For the record: in 2008, the school district has almost $30 million in revenue. Of that, only $3 million came from local property taxes.

Or so says the audit at ontario.k12.or.us/district0809/district/pdf/audit.pdf

We had to have the state and federal governments bail out our schools for the other $27 million. "

" I think the library bond was somewhere around 50 cents. While a library is a nice addition to any community, the funny thing is that most kids (and even adults) these days don't go to the library, but they all go to school. I bet if you asked kids how to find the answer to a question, most of them would tell you to find a computer and google it. They know the internet is out there and they know it is powerful. But with these schools set up the way they are, and as old as they are, I seriously wonder about the "technology education" our kids our getting. Technology is everywhere.... even the kid who sold me my lunch the other day had to punch it into a computer. These kids need to have training that will prepare them for the world they will step into after spending 12 years in our schools. I just don't see them getting the kind of education I want them to have in buildings so old. "

" How much did the Library bond pass for? Even without being awarded the grant, how much is the School Bond asking for? Seems like the citizens of Ontario (not to mention their children) would be benefiting a great deal by passing a School Bond, finally! "

" I will use the service as long as I don't have to pay for it. Wake up people. "

" Oh, I agree, "Where to Begin". I think we should take any Federal Grant money available. But, I think we should also be pro-active enough to support OUR OWN schools without the federal government's help. I see absolutely NO reason at all that a community the size of Ontario cannot support a simple school district. They're not asking for a nuclear reactor lab or a submarine for aquatic research on the coast. They're asking for heat that works in the winter and a/c that works in the summer. They're asking that their floors not have dry-rot in them and that the desks don't have so many broken metal parts that they're a safety hazard. They're asking for running water in a science lab, for goodness sakes.

We shouldn't have to beg the federal government to build Ontario a building. Have some pride in your town and build it yourself! We're talking a couple hundred dollars a year. If you need help coming up with the money, see if you can save some with any of these methods:

Get rid of that dishnetwork thing on the side of your house. Cancel your magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Skip buying the beer and cigarettes. Skip buying the ice-cream. Skip the soda-pop. Do you really need to spend so much on that cellphone? Fix your own food - it's even cheaper (and better for you) than any of the "restaurants" in Ontario... "

" To Where to Begin:

The last bond attempt failed miserably in the two rural districts (Cario and Pioneer), but passed easily in the three in-town districts.

We need the rural community to step up to the plate and support this effort. Just because they don't live in town, doesn't mean they are not part of the community.

I was a little over the top with my comments. I love our farmers, and they still are the foundation of the community. I just wish they would all get behind this effort. "

" Okay, there is really so much to say that I don't know where to begin.

First of all, to say that farmers are bringing this community down is crazy. Yeah, one farmer that they interviewed may have said that things have been tough, but you seem to have read right over the part where it says he voted yes last time. At least he was a supporter when alot of others were not.

Secondly, to the comment about using local tax dollars vs federal tax dollars. If they are going to dole that money out around this country why not have some of it come here. It is just stupid to turn it down if it is there, its not like if we don't use it our taxes will go down, it will just go to someone else. Personally, I would rather it come here because we have a need and that is what that money has been allocated for.

Additionally, I think everyone needs to calm down for just a second and read this carefully. This article doesn't say that we got the money, only that we applied for some extra help. From this point I have two things to say. First, it is clear that our new superintendent is very open with all of us about what she is trying to do. My general perception of the previous administration is that they ....well you can fill in this blank yourself. I think it is great that Dr. Florence is letting all of us know that she is doing everything she can to help ease the burden on all of us.

Secondly, I have seen some of the schools in question while my children were going through them, grant money or not I will be supporting this bond if it goes through. Those schools need help and the cost of construction is only going to go up the longer we wait. If we get help from other funding sources then so be it, but either way something needs to be done!!

I agree that this is a pivotal moment for our community. Alot has been said on here in different blogs about this issue over the past few years. The bottom line is those schools are old and at some point in time, someone is going to have to pony up and make the improvements we all know are needed. It is time to invest in the future of this community! "

" What's with the farmers? I remember when they were the leaders of this community. Now they are dragging it down. "

" Evelyn,

Please tell us, when you will be ready? When the schools fall down? When you are the only person left in town? Why don't you just tell the truth, you don't want to pay for any improvement.

Communities take care of schools by passing bonds. They are our responsibility. The last bond in Ontario built the Tiger Gym over 20 years ago.

If you are waiting for the price to go down, good luck. This is just bare bones repairs to make the schools safe, warm and dry and to add some much needed space. "

" So, we're NOT willing to pass a bond (taxes) to pay for schools, but we ARE willing to take grant money from the government (taxes). Ontario is willing to pay for schools with tax money as long as it's not OUR tax money. I see. I can't really say that it surprised me. "

" This is fantastic news! It's been said before that it is apparent something needs to be done for our schools. If Ontario is able to secure a grant, we have to take advantage of it! The improvements on the schools, for that price, can't be beat, and we can't pass it up! Who knows when another opportunity like this will come along? The longer we wait, the more work will have to be done; sounds like this came along at the perfect time! "

" There is general consensus our schools need physical improvements. The Task Force has done an excellent job researching this topic and providing a solution that is affordable and reasonable. Now we have a chance to save approx 30% on our tax bill if we can get this bond passed now. With looming inflation and rebounding construction costs, this is an excellent time to move. Ontario cannot afford to let more people or businesses pass us by.

Hermistion passed a $70 million dollar bond last year. With this government program they saved more in interest ($23 million) than we are seeking for this bond. Hermiston's size and economy (agriculture) is similar to Ontario's. Currently, folks in Nyssa pay approx. $2.66 per 1000 of assessed value and Vale approx. $1.00 per 1000 for their schools. We are now seeking between $.90 and $1.10 per 1000. This will be a huge bang for the buck and do so much for the schools and future of this community.

This a pivotal moment for our community. If we don't have people step up to the plate now, the future looks pretty sad. "