Why SLC School District bond proposal matters

We, a few parents and residents of Salt Lake City, are writing to express our firm support for the Salt Lake City School District bond proposal which SLC residents will have the opportunity to vote on in this November 2024 election.

The Salt Lake City School District Board of Education has called for an election to ask voters for $730 million in general obligation bonds. A vote for the bond will generate money, secured by our SLC property taxes, which the school district can use only for capital projects — building and property improvements.

$730 million is a lot of money, but we believe that the time is right and the need is urgent for the projects selected to be funded by this money. West High School will be rebuilt. Highland High School will be rebuilt. A new athletic training facility will be built at East High School. Sustainability projects will be undertaken across the school district to help in meeting the lofty goals set by the Board of Education through a student-led effort to use 100% clean energy by 2030 and to be 100% carbon neutral by 2040.

We believe that our Salt Lake City students deserve the opportunity to be educated in 21st-century facilities and benefit from the opportunities that such facilities provide. The new buildings will be safer for our students — with fewer entry points, larger classrooms, more light and better circulation. The new buildings will provide better educational access — with better technology and connectivity, and lab and learning spaces. The new buildings will be built for students of today. We have seen new high schools that have been built around the Salt Lake Valley, and we want that for our students here.

The last time that the Salt Lake City School District asked for general obligation bonds for facility improvements was in the late 1990s. Those bonds have been paid off and the district has been following a very fiscally conservative plan of paying for new buildings — including three elementary schools and the district office — using current funding mechanisms. Unfortunately, given the cost of building high schools, saving money to complete the current needed projects would take so prohibitively long that current students' children might not even benefit from the completion of the rebuilds and sustainability measures. Voting for the bond will mean that the projects can begin right away. We believe that this is an important investment necessary to benefit our current students.

We believe that all of these projects — particularly the rebuilding of West and Highland schools — are important to undertake now. The need is now and urgent. We have also seen demographic studies related to Salt Lake City student population. We do not believe that rebuilding West High and Highland will or should prevent continuing community and district conversation and study on the benefits of a west side or Glendale High School.

A vote for the bond proposal will mean an increase of about $200 per year on our property tax for a home valued at the city average of about $570,000. If your home if valued a little higher than the average, it will cost you a little more on your property tax. If you home is valued a little lower, it will cost you a little less. We believe that the benefit to our students and our city is worth an investment that amounts to about $20 a month.

We love our city. We love our students. We believe that Salt Lake City students are deserving of the best educational opportunities. We support the Board of Education's bond proposal. We ask you to vote FOR the bond on your ballot this election.