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Vote yes on 3A, 3B

Dear Editor:Do you remember who our president was in 1938, prior to World War II? Franklin D. Roosevelt. Yes, FDR was in the oval office in 1938 when students first began attending the current Basalt Elementary School – one of the many buildings in the Roaring Fork School District that are no longer deemed adequate for educational purposes and/or have major deficiencies and are in dire need of renovations. The RE-1 School District, a district comprised of 12 schools in Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, is asking for our support this election. They are asking voters to approve an $86 million bond issue for school building projects that will carry our schools into the 21st century and a $1.8 million mill levy override used largely to boost staff and teacher salaries. We believe that it is the responsibility of the citizens of the Roaring Fork Valley to step forward and show our appreciation and support to the RE-1 school district, our teachers, our students and our community by casting a yes vote for 3A and 3B.The mill levy override, 3A is especially important as it will provide $1.8 million for the district’s operating budget. Our children have attended the Basalt schools for the past 10 years. It has become increasingly frustrating to witness many of our outstanding teachers leave the RE-1 School District. Yet, who can fault them? The Aspen School District is able to offer them a substantial salary increase and, at the same time, smaller classrooms, or conversely, many teachers have left and moved to the I-70 corridor where salaries may be comparable, but housing is affordable. The cost of this tax to the average homeowner is not monetarily insignificant. A combined yes vote on both 3A and 3B will increase your taxes by $5 per month for each $100,000 of residential market value. Yet, the value to the children of our community is incalculable and the time is right for the school district to capitalize of currently low interest rates. If you have the opportunity, we encourage you to visit rfkids.org, a fabulous Web site managed by the RE-1 School District to better inform voters of the current issues facing the schools and proposals of how the monies will be spentHopefully, most of us agree that children are one of our community’s greatest assets and a good education is the finest gift we can give them. Please, be a community leader, show your support for the RE-1 School District and vote to invest in our valley’s future. Vote yes on 3A and 3B.Carrington and Melanie BrownBasalt