Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-07-18
A COMMUNITY PROBLEM.

I Next Tuesday the voters OF the W
tumwa school district will be called
iupon to vote on proposition to issue
I bonds in the amount of $125,ooo for an
J addition to the high school.
The problem that confronts the com
munity is this: additional school fac!i
tiles must be provided, or else there
must be retrenchment either in the
number of pupils permitted to enter
high school, or in the quality and num-
! her of courses offered to them. Pos
sibly both.
The matter is a vital one to every
parent in the city, to every one VINO
may some day be parent, and TO
every boy and girl who hopes to grow
up and gain an education in Ottumwa
The we'll being of the entire education
al system in the city Is at stake.
Enough has been said about the pre-
sent conditions in the high school. to
give everyone who reads an insight IN
to into the need for additional facili,
ties there. The building is good one,
but it was built seventeen years ago
and was intended to accommodate less
than 400 students. The range OF
studies offered seventeen years ago
was much more limited than Is the
, case now and so between natural in
crease in school population and the
need of space for new and modern de-
partments, every bit Of available room
\ in the building has been occupied.
Seven hundred pupils are crowded into
the building at present. Conditions
are not only detrimental to the secur.
ing Of a good education; they are &C.
tually dangerous to the health and life
Of the pupils.
The school board has given the mat
ter many months Of study. The plan
that has been evolved is reasonable,
economic and adequate. 1t Is propos-
ed to build two new wings to the pre-
sent building at cost of $125,000. The
. room afforded by these new wings will
make the institution large enough for
1850 students and will provide better
housing facilities for certain of the
branches of study which are in need of
more room that is now available. The
plan has this great advantage: 1t gets
the greatest possible results at the
least possible cost and with the least
possible change in the present order Of
things.
Now, as to the cost The plan Of
financing as adopted by the board,
calls for the issuance Of $125, ZOO worth
Of bonds which are to begin maturing
IN ten years. During the ten years be.
fore the bonds mature, the district will
have to pay interest on them. This
would amount to about $500 per al.
mum. The tax levy needed to raise this
would add from fifty cents to dollar
and half year to the tax paid by
the average house owner. At the end
Of the ten years, levies which are now
being used to pay off outstanding
bonds and Indebtedness, could be turn
ed on the account of the new bonds,
retiring them in reasonable length of
time without any increased taxation.
Anyone who gives the matter careful
consideration, cannot but see the need
Of additional high school facilities, and
cannot find flaw in the plan as pro-
posed by the board. All people who
have the interests of the school system
and the children at heart, should vote,
Tuesday in favor of the bond issue.
1t must not be forgotten that one
vote for the bond issue will be of more
avail than days of talking. So if you
are in favor, don't fail to vote.