Like many school districts across the country, Ignacio School District 11-JTR has a long and growing list of facilities needs that require a significant investment to address. And like nearly every public entity across the country facing such a challenge, facing the prospect of asking voters to fund such an undertaking is no easy decision – let alone a sure bet. Nevertheless, the needs facing Ignacio’s schools make doing so important. Voters should recognize that by approving Ignacio School District Ballot Issue 3A.

The proposal would generate nearly $50 million in revenue to be repaid over 20 years for constructing significant improvements and efficiencies to Ignacio schools’ facilities. Under its current four-school configuration, Ignacio School District’s resources are spread thin, in a community that faces many educational challenges external to the district’s operations. Bolstering its infrastructure will enable the district to focus other resources on the remaining priority areas articulated in its strategic plan, including academic achievement, curriculum and instruction; 21st-century readiness; program examination and opportunities; and cultural appreciation and awareness. Having adequate facilities in place makes these longer-term and more nuanced goals more easily achievable.

Ballot issue 3A would fund significant improvements and changes to the district’s buildings and the way it does business, reducing the number of schools to three – an elementary, middle and high school. It would do so by building a new middle school for grades six through eight, renovating the existing intermediate school that currently houses the district’s fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders to become the new elementary school for students in kindergarten through fifth grades, and improving the high school through renovations and joining it with the current junior high school building that sits adjacent. That combined facility would house grades nine through 12. The existing elementary school would be vacated. Also included would be energy-efficiency measures, as well as work to address important health and safety concerns such as air quality, asbestos issues and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.

These are improvements the district has long needed to make to its facilities, some of which date to the 1950s. Paying for them through a mill-levy increase from 4.76 mills to 6.7 mills translates to a $53 annual property-tax increase for every $100,000 in assessed value in the district. With an average home value of $152,000, the mill levy would result in an increase of less than $100 per year for most district residents. That is a reasonable price for such a sizeable slate of improvements. Given that the Ignacio School District has never asked voters for a bond issue, it is not unreasonable to seek this funding.

That is not to say that the question is a small one. The $50 million the district is seeking should draw careful consideration from voters, particularly in an environment where any additional demand on taxpayers is burdensome. But after weighing the needs of the district and its students, as well as the investment in the community, against the sting of a property-tax increase, voters should approve. Durango’s passage of an $84.5 million bond issue in 2002 resulted in dramatic capital-improvement projects, including a new Riverview Elementary School and an addition and renovation to Durango High School. Ignacio’s students can similarly benefit.

Now more than ever, communities should invest in their schools – particularly those that are not up to health and safety standards. Vote yes on Ignacio School District Ballot Issue 3A.