Nearly every chair was filled at a recent meeting about the Lopez School District Bond. The forum, on April 4 at the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts, was based on the philosophy of Civil Discourse and was moderated by Lorrie Harrison and Shawn Westervelt.

The goal of the forum, said Harrison, was to “create a safe, respectful environment in which to make a question or comment about the upcoming Lopez School Bond.”

To make this possible, a panel of involved individuals was present to answer the audience’s questions and present both sides of the issue.

Although most everyone agreed that the school does, in fact, need repairs there was a great deal of debate over the wisdom of this particular bond, specifically, whether or not it is a good investment. Ken Sinibaldi, on the panel, noted “I would have a great deal of trouble calling up any of my friends or acquaintances and asking them to spend 15.5 million dollars – don’t forget the interest–in order to save 750,000 dollars over the next 20 years or so. That seems like a very bad investment to me.”

On the other side of the issue, supporters of the measure said it is a good economy due to the historically low interest rates and a state energy grant, both of which could expire if the bond does not go through on the April ballot.

Lexi Taylor, a school board member, came out in support of the bond, stating, “if we act now, we can get historically low interest rates…it’s a good investment for Lopez because it invests in our families.”

Another aspect of the debate that garnered interest was the actual cost to taxpayers. Each side had a different answer to the question. Joe Thornton, opposing the bond, showed information demonstrating a 24.1 percent increase in taxes, adding “That’s a minimum, assuming that the increase in [non-school] taxes remains at 16 percent.” A panel member in support of the bond, however, addressed the issue this way: “We’ve structured the bond to be a constant 68 cents per thousand [of a home’s assessed value].”

It was also noted that, regardless of the percent increase in taxes, the current school tax rate for Lopez is significantly lower than the state average. The bond would bring the tax rate up to just under the state average.  Thornton found it important to address that, though this is true, the community still pays more per student, as “most people on Lopez don’t have children … if suddenly, there were as many families on Lopez as there are in other districts our size, you’d find that the tax rate was far too low. It’s a lot easier to share the burden this way.”

So, although there is still a great deal of debate on the issue, those at the meeting seemed largely in support of the bond, despite its high cost. Kerry Ratza, a local parent, conveyed her support to the panel, stating emotionally that she was “going to move off the island until I heard you guys speak at the preschool. This level of caring and community engagement is so rare, and so special.”