As the mom of a kindergartner, a toddler and soon to be newborn in the Lake Washington School District, I’m continually thinking about the type of public education my children will receive. My husband and I bought a home in Redmond a year and a half ago because of the area’s reputation for good schools and manageable classroom sizes, but we are concerned about projected overcrowding and how it will impact student learning in the upcoming years.

When we moved here from Seattle, we were delighted to find out that our daughter’s kindergarten classroom size would be 21-22 students compared to kindergarten classroom sizes of 25 plus in Seattle. Unfortunately, maintaining this requires extensive use of portables or delivering instruction in places not meant to be classrooms. For example, our middle school will have 13 portables next year, close to a third of its capacity. While portables may provide temporary housing for classrooms, they don’t increase supply of gyms, music rooms, libraries, cafeterias, access roads, parking, or bathrooms. With projected growth of more than 2,000 students in the next five years, we just don’t know where all the kids will go, and we hope the same manageable sizes continue for all our children in the Lake Washington School District.

That’s why we are supporting the LWSD April 26 school bond measure, which will improve students’ educational opportunities without raising our tax rate.

I’ve researched the bond proposal, and learned that it takes advantage of good fiscal planning and timing. By paying off other district bonds and levies, the school district can fund this bond proposal without raising our tax rate. And bond approval ensures that the district is eligible for state matching funds to make sure our local investment goes even further.

You can learn more about the proposal by visiting the school district website at http://www.lwsd.org.

I hope Lake Washington School District voters will join us in voting yes for schools April 26.

Erin Snodgrass, Redmond