JACKSON SCHOOL PROPOSALS DESERVE PASSAGE

Rejection by voters in April of two Jackson School District funding proposals took not only school officials by surprise, but many district residents as well. Voters in the growing Jackson School District, after all, haven't turned down any proposal that means better schools for years, and that's why the defeats were so surprising.

But in April the mood of district voters was different. The district had asked for a 10-cent-per-$100-assessed-valuation increase in the debt-service tax to provide $6 million in bonds for improvements to R.O. Hawkins Junior High School and some new air conditioning and technology within the district. They also had been asked to approve a second proposal that would have eliminated a state-mandated tax waiver and increased the district's operating tax by 40 cents to generate money for such operating expenses as hiring of additional faculty and staff.

So surprised by the defeat were the Board of Education and school officials that board members and administrators decided they had not done an adequate job of informing voters of the need for the improvements. So they set out on a mission to sell the needs through public meetings and through a committee of citizens once again in preparation for resubmission of the proposals at the polls on Aug. 8.

They even opened the junior high school up to public tours led by junior high students who pointed out problems brought on by overcrowding. And the students did a good job of explaining those problems. As one eighth-grader said: "Even now it's going to be crowded, but in two to three years the population's going to grow. The class sizes are going to grow even more."

The bond issue would provide money for, among other things at the junior high school, an additional 18 classrooms, a gymnasium an all-purpose room and an expanded kitchen area. The junior high building is designed for 600 students, but 800 will be attending Hawkins when school resumes in August.

The district's enrollment is growing by leaps and bounds. It has an enrollment of 4,482 students. Of that number, 2,022 students are in elementary grades, 682 are in the middle school, 748 are at the junior high and 1,030 are enrolled in high school.

Because Jackson School District has a reputation of being among the best around, people want to live in the school district, and that is why its enrollment has grown at the rate of 3 percent annually in recent years.

Approval of the bond issue on Aug. 8 would mean the debt-service fund would go from 46 cents to 56 cents. Passage of the operating tax increase would take that levy from $2.75 to $3.15. The total 50-cent tax increase and tax waiver would increase the district's total tax levy from $3.21 to $3.71.

That means the family with a home worth $100,000 would pay an additional $95 annually in taxes.

None of us likes higher taxes, but the Jackson School District's growing pains should be eased. A vote in favor of both proposals on Aug. 8 will help do just that.