The following is a letter to the editor and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of BNEWS.
Dear Town Meeting Members and Burlington residents,
I know many people are conflicted about the vote on the Fox Hill school building project and have concerns about the urgency of the Burlington High School building project. As someone who was involved with the BHS and Fox Hill building projects for the last 9 years, I believe that we need both schools. The process for both schools has been thorough, transparent, and entirely open to the public.
The Fox Hill project is a good building, which will meet the needs of a quarter of our elementary school students for a long time. The BHS project is not finalized yet, and many difficult decisions need to be made, but we all need to pledge to support the BHS project when it comes to Town Meeting and the public for a vote in a year or so.
Criticisms of the long-term planning process are valid. But here we are. If we wait longer, they will both cost more. If we had moved forward with the BHS project 10 years ago, our taxes would have been higher already.
With two important school building projects before us in the span of a couple of years, we need to change the narrative. Since I joined the SC, the narrative has been, “Burlington will never pass a debt exclusion.” Now is the time for us to join together and say, “Burlington is a town that supports our schools and we will build the two new projects that we need.” I want to acknowledge that Town Meeting has always been generous to the schools. The commitment to these two school building projects will require continued dedication.
School buildings are very expensive. I support education in this town and would gladly pay the taxes necessary to fund all needed school building projects. Please join me and commit to supporting both school projects.
Martha Simon
Former School Committee member and former Town Meeting member
September 21, 2024