Now’s the time to speak up

This is sort of a “speak now or forever hold your peace” time in Loyal, as the school district takes its first serious look at a major building project in the last quarter-century. Over the course of the next few months, the district will be reaching out to all residents to ask them what they think of various facility expansion/renovation options, and we believe they’re fully serious about listening to the feedback.

The public involvement portion of the long potential building process began last week with an informational meeting attended by about 45 people. By sometime early this fall, the district Board of Education plans to have a public survey in everyone’s hands to give them every opportunity to say what they think should happen. That could range from maintaining the status quo to embarking on a multimillion project, but whatever your opinion is, now is the time to offer it. Those who don’t speak up ought not criticize the decisions when they are eventually made.

Loyal has solid school facilities, no one is arguing that point, but school officials realize they could be better. Education -- like everything else in the last 25 years of lightning-fast technology advancements -- has changed, and a building with parts constructed as far back as 1938 may not be best for future instruction.

That said, now appears to be a ripe moment for Loyal to move ahead with a possible project: -- Interest rates are as favorable as they’ve ever been, with a financial consultant with more than 30 years of experience saying last week she’s never seen rates so low.

-- The district, by wise and prudent decision-making, has no long-term debt.

-- There is a good chance that the district could qualify for $3-4 million in FEMA disaster mitigation funding if it would build a structure that would double as a community safe room.

The conceptual plan presented last week was one of those “wish list” type things -- a $24 million pie-in-the-sky drawing on paper that no one expects will ever come fully to fruition. A starting point it is, though, and it will be trimmed and revised and narrowed according to what the public says it needs and/or wants. That’s why it’s important you take part, because your voice doesn’t matter much if you don’t speak.

A consultant said last week that the district will be doing great if it gets a 15-20 percent response rate for the planned community survey. Really? Come on now, Loyal, you can do far better than that.