In short order you’ll be asked to vote once again on two school bond issues. I think it is only fair you understand the finances being casting your ballot.

Bond I is for $47.7 million. A new classroom building will cost $19.6 million for 36,206 square feet or $541 per square foot. The renovation of building A will cost $22.2 million for 42,236 square feet or $525 per square foot. Project management and design fees are calculated on top of 28 percent contingency.

The average per square foot cost for a school built in Seattle is $163 per square foot.

To say these numbers are staggering is not an exaggeration. Most of this information comes from the Vashon Island School District website.

Our high school enrollment is down to 494 students. Again, do the math: It would cost an average of $96,559 per student, with interest probably twice that amount in 20 years.

Bond II for the playing fields is for $3.5 million. It would involve re-grading and covering the high school football field in four inches of Astro Turf, which has a life span of 12 years and would need replacement before we had finished paying for it. A new synthetic track and other unspecified sports field modifications are also in Bond II.

Passage of these combined bonds would increase property taxes on an average $450,000 home $720 per year. Not everyone who lives here can afford that.

While we believe in a good education for our children, this has nothing to do with education or maintenance of all pre-existing buildings.

We have seen the school district needing to raise money for teachers, and you’ll see more of it in years to come. The state cannot fund our educational institutions as they have in the past. The food bank and Vashon Youth & Family Services have seen a marked increase in use in the past year.

Please think not only of your budget, but of your neighbors’, as well.

— George Wright