Our Juanita High School PTSA Board of Directors supports the Feb. 8 capital levy that would build additional classroom space and a new school in our district.

We do not want the Lake Washington School District to redirect bond money set aside for the modernization of Finn Hill Junior High, Sandburg Elementary or the other nine schools to go to the building of additional classroom space for students in other parts of the school district. This is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Why should any one group of students suffer for the sake of another group? All students in the district are deserving of excellent school facilities.

We are looking forward to our school’s modernization, scheduled to begin in 2014. We will need the support of voters to pass an initiative to fund the nine schools scheduled for modernization in Phase 3, including Juanita High School and Kamiakin Junior High. And the problems we see in Juanita High School’s building are related to structural issues and not due to deferring maintenance. The biggest issue is the lack of space in classrooms, storage areas, gym locker rooms, and in the resource rooms for students who have special education needs. Also, many classrooms do not have windows and the school’s gas furnace does not have the power to sufficiently heat all classrooms in a timely manner. We often hear our children complain about the cold, dark conditions of their classrooms in wintertime.

So, we are voting yes on Feb. 8 for the capital levy and hope others will support funding the modernization of our school when the time comes.

Juanita High School PTSA Board of Directors

Amy Bray and Christy Carter, Co-Presidents