I am voting Yes in favor of the Middle school.
Consider the possible outcomes of a No vote. Some argue they would like to see state funding for the school. However, the volunteer committee pursued this for several years prior to designing the building only to be rejected each time. The reasoning stands that Concord has benefited from this funding in the past, and there are other towns who need it more now.
Some argue we should re-design the building from scratch to save money. However, the volunteer committee arrived at this design through an extensive and transparent process of gathering community input. That design was then voted on and overwhelmingly approved by the same community. It is difficult to imagine a meaningfully different outcome.
Some argue that the budget extension should be rejected and we should go back and shave costs instead. However, the volunteer committee has already done this by removing about $2 million in costs prior to requesting this budget extension. They have also shown evidence that further re-design would end up costing us more for less of a building due to the costly planning process and continued rising costs over time.
Some argue that the kids don’t need a new building. But the evidence shows that the current building is not only in disrepair, it is actually unsafe, and repairing it will cost us more in the long run. In the end, the only logical vote, the vote that makes sense for our kids and our finances, is a Yes vote.
John Cooley
Highland Street
