Build a new school

Date: 1/31/2012

We have lived in the Maple High Six Corners Neighborhood for 29 years. Our sons attended Brookings School many moons ago. It was heartbreaking to see the damage done to Brookings by the June 1st tornado.

But on a recent visit to the “temporary” Brookings School, we were impressed to see how nice this “temporary” building is. There is air-conditioning, updated electrical, heat and plumbing systems. The classrooms are bright and well lit, the floors shiny. It occurred to us that it would be a shame to move the students back into the old out-dated building. The city has an opportunity, imposed by the tornado, to give our students an up-to-date modern learning environment by building a new school for Brookings. Spending the estimated $20 million dollars needed to repair an outdated building seems like a waste to us.

The city previously spent millions to repair Putnam only to turn around later and spend millions more to build a new school. Let’s do it right this time and build the new building while we have the opportunity.

Jim and Linda Bartlett

Springfield