School Board Needs Input

I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and is looking forward to a cool fall and a great new school year!

I wanted to update you on a critical issue facing our current school board—-whether or not to apply for a bond to make upgrades to our schools.

The school board is holding a public hearing on Sept. 16th at 7pm to get input on the bonds which will help fund our schools' infrastructure and energy-efficiency needs (the bonds are often referred to as AARA bonds, which stands for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or they are also referred to as Build America Bonds).

The Hastings School Board is considering going after both a no-interest and a low-interest bond that the federal government is offering to school districts.

The money must be used for energy-efficiency and infrastructure needs/upgrades. Our schools need a lot of upgrades. Our elementary schools need the basics of air-conditioning and sealing up of the building so in the winter we don't have energy leaking from the building. Our high school is in need of an "extreme makeover"---everything from a new science building, to lockers, to more and updated classrooms.

The bonds the government is offering really do come once in a lifetime. Typically, schools are left to putting these types of infrastructure updates on the ballot which are then subject to politics where the kids and buildings usually come up on the losing side of things.

On Sept. 16th, the School Board will have an open meeting to discuss the school bonds. We need as many positive voices talking about the various angles and benefits of the bonds--things like kids can learn better in comfortable classrooms, safety issues will be addressed if kids can lock their lockers and be in safe, upgraded classrooms, our kids can go from an updated middle school to an updated high school not slipping in their learning or use of facilities, and our schools can stop throwing money out the window in lost energy.

Please let me know if you can come to the Sept. 16th meeting and if you have any questions about the bonds.

Below is the address for the meeting and some websites that might be helpful. I hope to see you at the meeting.

-Jane Kleeb

Sept. 16th meeting info:
7 pm, District Conference Room, 1924 W. A St.

Websites with more info:

Hastings superintendent message on the bonds: http://bit.ly/bBeXOG

Site with info on how classroom quality impacts learning: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schooldesign/impactonlearning.html

Site explaining the bonds and recovery act: http://www.recovery.gov/About/Pages/The_Act.aspx

Site explaining the bond allocation: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/treasury-and-education-announce-2010-school-bond-allocation