Prop 2 changes the district’s trajectory

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- The trouble with running a school bond issue comes the day after the election. If voters reject the proposal, then school officials and board members are in the awkward position of walking back all those previous statements about inadequate facilities or education being at a crossroads.

“Things are fine here,” school officials say through gritted teeth. Or something of that nature.

That’s one of the refreshing things about Proposition 2, the $157 million bond issue to build a new high school for the St. Joseph School District. Things are not fine here, not with the double-whammy of shrinking enrollment and aging high school buildings. Two of those buildings opened when FDR was in the White House – and those are the newer ones.

If Prop 2 goes down on April 8, don’t expect statements about how school officials heard the public loud and clear. The district has made clear its plans to consolidate down to two high schools with or without voter support for Proposition 2.

Plan B would involve an $80 million “no tax bond” to upgrade Central and Lafayette and use those buildings as the district’s two public high schools. Benton would likely become a middle school as part of an overdue plan to rationalize the district’s boundaries and fix its high school feeder system.

There really is a sense that the district is at a crossroads. Underutilized infrastructure and stagnant growth will do that. St. Joseph, one way or another, needs to get down to the two high school model used at other districts of similar size, including Liberty and Park Hill. Those suburban districts have close to 2,000 more students than the SJSD.

Some might see plan B as a vote-for-this-or-else threat, but the district is just being honest. This is where we’re at and this is how we move forward.

Knowing this, voters would be wise to support Prop 2 in the April election. It provides at least one new high school (south of U.S. Highway 36) with a possibility of one other down the road. The new school (or schools) would compare favorably with facilities in suburban Kansas City that appeal to the growing number of workers who commute. The quality of schools – both curb appeal and actual offerings – is a big reason that young families don’t want to live here.

The SJSD is obligated to provide equal opportunities – both in academic offerings and facilities – and that is not the case right now. Two high schools – preferably two new high schools – would get St. Joseph closer to that ideal.

Critics will point to academic scores, sports teams, administrative pay, taxes and nostalgia as reasons to maintain the status quo. These are just excuses.

We have to wonder why many of those critics have the newest mobile phone in their pockets but are content to see their children or grandchildren go to high school in 80-year-old buildings with balky heating and AC systems.

Prop 2 sends a strong message to businesses and young families that St. Joseph values education and embraces change.

As it stands now, St. Joseph remains stuck in a kind of feedback loop that ensnares communities with declining populations. People don’t want to move here because of the condition of schools, but schools remain in poor condition because people don’t want to move here.

What’s going to change this self-defeating dynamic? Voter approval of Prop 2 on April 8.