I would like to urge you to vote YES for the Deer Park School bond and levy. As someone who grew up here, I have seen tremendous growth in Deer Park, especially in the last few years. Both my husband and I are lifelong residents of the area and graduated from Deer Park schools, as did our 2 sons. Both of my husband’s parents graduated from Deer Park too! We now have three great grandchildren who will soon be school age, and we would love to see our schools a safe and welcoming place to learn for them.

I worked as a paraeducator at Arcadia Elementary for over 24 years and retired 10 years ago. Arcadia has been overcrowded for at least 20 years. Two portables were added maybe 15 years ago, and there is now a third portable, and it is still overcrowded. The portables really aren’t an ideal place for kids, as they have to go back and forth between building several times during the day, which is a huge safety factor.

This fall, I took a bunch of extra supplies I had purchased for my groups and donated them to the school. I was shocked to see that the multipurpose room that was used for so many activities was now blocked off into two new classrooms. That multipurpose room was used for paraeducators to take their small groups, study halls, after school activities like scouts and the robotics club, the 5th grade used it to print their super class t-shirts and for many of their competitions, school pictures were taken there as well, and many other things. I’m not sure where they do those things now. As paraeducators, we were constantly looking for places to work with kids, often using hallways and the stairs to the gym to read with kids because there just weren’t spaces available.

Our transportation department is housed in buildings that must be nearing 100 years old, that were part of the old Deer Park Pine Industries – originally used as stables and later to park logging trucks. My husband drove bus for a number of years, and the driver’s room was not large enough to hold meetings. Only some of the busses fit in the old garage without a good place for the mechanics to work on them.

This is a replacement bond – it will not be a new tax, and the levy is a renewal of the expiring levy. If these are passed, we will be able to access $23 million of supplemental state funding – but only if we pass the bond and levy.

I urge you to carefully read the informational pamphlet that will be in your mail and learn the facts.

Please join us in voting for the future of our kids, schools, and city by voting YES in February!

Thank you,
Ed & Phyllis Zimmerer

Reprinted with permission.
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