All News

Port of Ridgefield Board Endorses School Bond Measure

11/1/2011 12:00:00 AM

For Immediate Release: November 1, 2011

 

 Port of Ridgefield Board Endorses School Bond Measure

 

The Port of Ridgefield Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last week to endorse a “yes” vote on the Ridgefield School District’s February 2012 bond measure. Currently, the district’s two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school are all overcrowded. The school district is using many aging portable classrooms, while some of these “temporary” portable classrooms have been in service for over 30 years. Schools have been forced to schedule as many as four lunch periods to accommodate growing student populations.  The school district is also facing safety concerns with school buses and other vehicular traffic.  “The traffic gets down-right scary with buses and cars dropping off or picking up students.  We can’t even get all of our high school students into the gym for an assembly…” said Commissioner Scott Hughes, “We have got to make these improvements if we want to live in a high quality community.”

 

“If we don’t make these investments now and make sure our kids get the best opportunity for a solid basic education, the whole community loses out”, said Commissioner Bruce Wiseman.  “The Port’s primary focus is to bring commerce and jobs to our community. Businesses looking to relocate to Ridgefield or startup in Ridgefield look very closely at our educational system.  They want to be sure that quality schools are part of the community structure, not only for future employees, but for the families of their employees that will be living here.”  “That’s why we are very much in support of this bond”, said Commissioner Joe Melroy, “…to attract quality companies to our district we have to have quality schools, schools that give our students a competitive edge for their future and the future of our economic health as a community.”

 

Details about the bond measure can be found at www.ridge.k12.wa.us