Bond proposal needs 'cost-effective' solution

Way to go Torie Powell, Alex McDonald and Kayli Johnson for speaking out when you felt there was a problem with the Whitefish High School bond. High school students are not unintelligent, and I agree that consulting students might have been one of the greatest ways to discover exactly where the focus of this bond ought to be.

There is no doubt in my mind that sections of the school (particularly C Wing) need to be remodeled to meet current building codes, if not rebuilt entirely. Nor do I disagree that having a larger school that is capable of meeting future enrollment is ideal.

I do disagree, however, with the idea that it takes $21.5 million to do so. As a student of Whitefish High School, I can tell you first-hand that my four years spent here have not been wasted. The expertise of the teachers and their passion for education are commendable at the very least; yet I do not feel as if I have been "gypped" in any way because I did not go to school in a $21.5 million complex.

I'm certain that my AP Government class would not be any different with a window view (I know, fire escapes), nor would I benefit tremendously from a SMART board in Shakespeare. Is there a way to effectively reduce the size of this bond to relieve some of the financial worries of families in the area?

Now that the proponents of this bond dislike this article, I wish to speak to the proposed "off-campus" system, or rather the lack thereof. Torie, Alex and Kayli put it very well: "The letters we've been reading are portraying the students to be delinquents during the 40 minutes we receive for lunch hour, when only a small handful of kids are abusing their privileges."

We are blessed to have a community capable of hosting off-campus lunch. I remember taking my buddies out to lunch to celebrate the day we received our driver's licenses. Can friends no longer enjoy a lunch beyond "school food" simply because a few punks decide to mess up their lives? Contrary to popular belief, the four-ish restaurants in the proposed school would get boring after about three months.

What about off-campus study hall? Most of the students who earn these privileges are not the type who run out and get high for 30 minutes. I feel more like a college student than a high school senior, because I can go to Montana Coffee Traders to work on my homework rather than be stuck in a classroom.

The school system wasn't meant to be responsible for the conduct of its students outside of the classroom; originally, this job was left to the parents. Don't blame the school system for your child's drug abuse.

Raise the standard required to go off-campus, issue ID cards, allow "off-campus Thursday" for seniors; just don't deprive hard-working teens of the college experience while they are still at home. Improvements in the school are needed tremendously; perhaps this bond needs some more "cost-effective" thought as well.

Evan Harris is a student at Whitefish High School.