Voice of the Coast

“I want to thank the Board for all of the hard work, all of the thought, all of the goodwill, that you have put into this effort for our community. We all know that you want to do the right thing, for all of us, but especially for the students. We have an opportunity now to really make the most of something that the community has been waiting on for a very long time. Not only to get the middle school built — which is so important — but also for what that will represent for our community. It will mean that people who don’t always agree, can work together to get something done for the future, for the students.

I honestly believe that if you don’t make a decision about the middle school tonight, it could make people doubt our ability to work together. It could make people doubt what the actual intention is. It could make people doubt whether their children will ever get to attend a new middle school. That may seem rather harsh, I know. But I have talked to so many people who just have this sinking belief that the middle school is never going to get built. People used to tell me that the Devil’s Slide tunnel would never get built. And I say this with all due respect, but we passed Measure T in 1996----the same year that the middle school Measure K was passed----and now it looks like the tunnel is going to be finished before the middle school.

I understand that you have concerns about the financing of the Cunha project. Of course you don’t want to spend money that you don’t have. But I truly believe that — with the weight of the City Council behind you, with the amount of grant funding that can be obtained from other sources, with ideas about energy saving construction — the financing issues can and will be resolved.

If we harness the energy and the intelligence of everybody in the commmunity, many of whom have not been in agreement with the school board over the past nine years, then we know we can make this happen. But we need the school board’s leadership, to say, starting here, starting now, we want the middle school built. And based on the expert information that we’ve received, Cunha is the only viable option.

We haven’t figured out all of the fine details yet. but the school board has to make a decision that something is going to get done. And that is to build at Cunha. We must challenge everybody in the community to come together and actually help with this. To become part of the process. But the school board has to set the tone as leaders.

Sometimes it’s a bit scary to decide things when a lot of the details still have to be worked out. But this is something that has be done. Nothing is going to change by putting off the decision by 4 weeks or 4 months. This just delays the first step that everyone in our communtiy is waiting for you to take. So please take that first step.

Thank you.”