Chip Courtney urges voters to support school referendum

Soon we will have the opportunity to make an important decision regarding the future of our children and our community – the 22 million dollar school improvement referendum on the November 5th ballot.

In the past few years there have been several referendums brought forth that failed. There were many in our community that felt some of the expenditures included in those were unnecessary. Taking those opinions into consideration our school administration and school board took a step back and focused on the most critical needs of our school district. They, along with others, spent a considerable amount of time holding open forums and really concentrating on the input of their constituents to determine their final proposal. What we are now presented with is a basic proposal to upgrade key areas of our schools to continue to allow our students to flourish. The Medford Area Public School District qualifies for 71% state funding for this referendum. Right or wrong, if we don’t take advantage of this opportunity someone else will.

When I moved here with my young family nearly 40 years ago one of the main reasons was the Medford Area Public School District. Not just for the bricks and mortar but also the people in them. That turned out to be a great decision. I’m grateful for the excellent education that my 4 children received and I’m expecting that my 8 grandkids will receive the same. Our schools have equipment that needs to be maintained or upgraded. We have classrooms and other infrastructure that is outdated. Its time for us to step up and give our excellent educators the spaces, technology and equipment to continue to prepare our kids to meet the challenges of our rapidly changing world.

We’re all proud of the values we share as a community. One of the most important is our commitment to our children’s success. This referendum focusses on the basic core investments required to maintain that success. I’m voting “Yes” on November 5th and I hope you do too. Thank you.

— Chip Courtney, Medford