I am writing this letter for one reason: the future of the Kimball School District.
If the taxpayers of the Kimball School District vote No on this bond issue it will have a domino effect impacting the ability of the school to attract new families and students. If the school district does not periodically spend money on the facility to improve the school the school will not be able to compete with area schools for students. Each student translates into money that the school receives from the state. The number of students that it takes to maintain the school budget in Kimball is 700. We are currently at 711.
Adding trades classrooms is an investment in the future for all of us. There is an extreme lack of students looking at a skilled labor position as a career. Without skilled labor, nothing gets built. Not all students want to go on to college nor should they. By offering trades classes we are offering what some schools in the area do not, thus giving us an advantage in the competition for students and in turn, increasing the aid we get from the state. We also help fill an industry need and give students opportunities for excellent lifelong careers. As the owner of a construction company, I know this first-hand. So do area manufacturing companies as indicated in this part of a letter to Superintendent Wagner from Patrick Farrell of New Flyer, a manufacturing company that is a world leader in building busses for public transportation:
?ÄúThere are many people who work at this facility who gained almost all of their practical manufacturing knowledge after employment here. Given the percentage of students who know they won?Äôt be attending college after high school, this is a great opportunity for them to have knowledge of what local business requires, and some of the required skills before they walk into a manufacturing plant.
?ÄúFor those students who will continue their technical training at a trade school, what they learn from your shops will greatly improve their chances for success.
?ÄúWe know that extra resources will be needed to develop your facilities, and we sincerely hope that those resources will be available soon.?Äù
Mr. Farrell is referencing the benefit of the addition of the woodshop to develop on-site trades programs at KAHS that will help make students industry-ready before they graduate. Area trades and manufacturing businesses want to work with us, but we need the bond to pass in order to make these opportunities possible.
Looking at the school as strictly an employer, if the city of Kimball lost the school as an employer, they would lose the largest employer in town along with traffic at the local businesses. That would result in lower revenue which would in turn result in less of a tax base. Guess where that money would come from? Lose the school and businesses will follow.
I, along with most people, do not like spending money unwisely. Unfortunately, that has happened in the past in the Kimball School District. This is a new time and a new opportunity. Right now, I think money needs to be spent, or the cost to all of us will be more than just money.
There are some half-truths on some flyers and advertisements out there regarding this bond. If you have any questions about how the money is going to be spent, feel free to contact the Vote Yes Committee or the School District Office directly to get the straight facts.
Vote YES on Feb. 5.
Tim Gettler
Business owner and
concerned citizen