The Sequim School District bond proposal before voters on the Nov. 3 ballot is the result of long-term planning that began in 2008.

Two committees of citizen volunteers conducted planning work in 2008 and 2013, each time bringing proposed building improvements to the school district board of directors.

This bond proposal is based on comprehensive, on-going study of building conditions and current and future needs.

Needs like more than one bathroom per 60 students as at Haller Elementary.

Needs like a dedicated gymnasium space and permanent classrooms at both Greywolf and Haller Elementary so students are not forced to leave a secure site to travel to the next.

Needs like a single point of entry school building to promote secure schools, not the 29 separate points of entry at Haller Elementary or the 40 separate points of entry at the high school.

Needs like a consolidated high school campus to restore precious instructional time lost due to travel between dispersed buildings and ensure the safety of students who cross busy Fir Street multiple times daily. Band and choir students at the high school can lose 30 or more hours of instructional time every year for each band and choir class in which they participate.

I personally have witnessed near misses between cars and students as they cross Fir Street in less than favorable conditions like darkness and icy or wet roads.

Needs like proper science classrooms that can actually support modern science instruction with sufficient access to technology, adequate and sufficient lab stations, and rooms that can be quickly secured in the event of a lockdown.

The school district is a good steward of public funds. Through active financial management, we paid off the 1996 bond three years early, saving $300,000 of interest costs in the process.

We survived the Great Recession without asking for more taxes in 2011 as the state Legislature allowed. At the same time, we maintained low class sizes, cut class fees for high school students and devoted more money to elementary supplies to ease the burden on our families.

The school district is a good investment of public money. The graduation rate in 2010 was 74 percent. In 2015, it was 85 percent, a 15-percent increase in five years.

This bond proposal is not about maintenance. Our buildings are maintained and functioning the best they possibly can. This bond proposal is about taking care of the students we have right now by providing safe and secure buildings with capacity to provide a modern education.

This bond proposal respects the community, by asking for a total local schools tax rate that is less than what we were all paying in 2013 and still providing the building improvements our students need.

The State of Washington will not provide the buildings for us. We, as a community, have that responsibility.

Thank you for reading and please see the Sequim School District website (www.sequim.k12.wa.us) for more information.

Brian Lewis is Director of Business Operations for the Sequim School District. Reach him at 582-3266 or blewis@sequim.k12.wa.us.