Vote Yes on Fit For The Future Referendum

By Tim Haynes, Blaine Resident

Our schools in the Anoka-Hennepin School District are in trouble.  All it takes is one look around any of the high schools during passing time to realize that.  Overcrowding and outdated facilities are major problems that are only going to get worse with time.  That is why I am voting yes on the Fit for the Future referendum, because our students deserve to have proper facilities where they can learn and develop their skills for their next stage of life.

There are currently 62 portable classrooms in the Anoka-Hennepin School District.  These classrooms were meant to be a short-term solution, and as such have horrible temperature control and minimal security.  If the Fit for the Future referendum fails, these portable classrooms will have to stay, and will likely fall into a further state of disrepair.  However, if the referendum passes, the portables will be removed and be replaced with actual classrooms.

The science classrooms at many of the high schools are ridiculously small.  Many classrooms have little extra space to do labs on, which leaves the classrooms very crowded during labs.  In addition to being an impediment to learning, this is very dangerous: weaving your way through lots of people while carrying beakers full of acid is a recipe for disaster.

The referendum will also lower class size, add new classrooms, and expand media centers, among other things.  All of these things will help students to learn.

I’ve heard many district residents complain about the cost of this referendum for taxpayers.  If you own an average house in this district ($200,000 value) you will be paying roughly $11 more in taxes per month, or about $132 more annually.  I admit that this is a sizable amount of money.  Here’s the thing: if our schools improve, then the value of our houses is likely to go up, too.  This increase in value will at least partially offset the tax increase caused by the referendum.  In other words, that $132 is a deceptive number.

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful tool with which you can use to change the world.”  Our students in Anoka-Hennepin deserve facilities that will improve their education and give them greater opportunity for their future.  That is why I will vote yes on the referendum.

Students Must Suffer

By the Grim Reaper

On November 7, when the Anoka-Hennepin School District asks for $250,000,000, I will be voting no.  My reason is simple: students must suffer.  And passing the referendum will ease their suffering.

If the referendum passes, schools will become less crowded and more safe.  Average class size will go down.  The portable classrooms at some of the high schools will be removed and replaced with modern classrooms.  Security will be improved, music programs expanded, and test scores will likely go up.

All of these things, of course, are horrible.

Passing the referendum will lead to more learning, more safety, and, ultimately, more happiness.  This must not happen.

Just picture what will happen if the referendum fails.  Thousands of students, packed together like sardines in a hallway trying to make their way to their next class.  Dozens of students crammed into the same classroom, trying to see the whiteboard amid the enormous sea of heads.  Hundreds of students waiting in a lunch line, then realizing that there’s no more room left in the cafeteria and slowly making their way towards the lockers.  Misery and suffering will be all that these students know.  And it will be glorious.

Make the students of Anoka-Hennepin suffer.  Vote no on the Fit for the Future referendum.