Toledo student gives her perspective on bond issue

The Toledo School District desires a bond to fix all three schools. The estimated subtotal cost for all three schools is $21,723,700. That's $586,500 for the elementary school, $1,023,500 for the middle school, and $20,113,700 for the high school. The total cost estimation for the bond is $22,484,030. The state share is estimated to be around $8,235,000, making the local share $11,878,700.

Not much has to be done for the elementary school, just caulking of all exterior joints, siding repair, repainting, plus a couple of plumbing and electrical replacements and upgrades.

The middle school requires lots of replacement work, such as siding, flooring, the roof, and more plumbing and electrical fixes. The high school needs a lot of work, like fixing the track, paving, caulking, flooring replacement, gym mending, along with plumbing and electrical work.

The high school has the most problems compared to the other schools, and many residents believe that if an earthquake or any sort of dire weather phenomenon were to happen, the ceiling would collapse. The high school track has not been in use due to its poor condition, and there are many leaks in the school that occur when it rains.

My personal belief on the bond is quite different from the other students' opinions. I'm not fond of the idea, due to the costs and the taxes involved. I think that if the schools were taken care of a bit more, we wouldn't need to do this much work. But I also realize that the schools need to be fixed, especially the high school, so therefore the bond isn't a bad idea.

The ballots are already in the mail for voting, and they need to be postmarked by Feb. 14. Toledo High School has a Facebook page with many pictures of all the problems that the bond is intended to fix.