Theres a good chance you are familiar with Southwest Open School and the very special role it plays in our areas public education system. For 25 years, our program has been changing the lives of teenagers throughout our community who face some of the toughest challenges and need another chancenot only at completing school but also at achieving lifelong success.
You also may have heard that our school recently was awarded a $7.4 million grant by the Colorado Department of Education. The grant is recognition for the work we do as well as an acknowledgment of the critical needs facing our area in general. The money will cover most of the cost of attaining our programs longtime goal of upgrading our outdated and inadequate facilities.
The Journal recently reported on the need for improvements to our campus, which still is housed in prefab buildings that date to 1973. Significant problems have been identified in nearly all of the schools structures; there are concerns about wiring, mold, splitting floors and ceilings, a lack of space and other general safety issues. We have never had a room in which our entire student body can assemble.
The state grant will make a huge difference in our ability to resolve those issues, but the funds come with a requirement: We must leverage state taxpayers generosity by raising a much smaller sum locally, on our own.
That is why the Montezuma-Cortez School District Board of Education this week approved a ballot proposal asking our community to support a $3.4 million bond issue directly for Southwest Open School. For less than 60 cents a month assessed on the average home, local residents will be able to cover the balance of the cost of providing our students a modern and safe learning environment.
We already are hearing encouraging signs of support from the community. About two-thirds of those who responded to our recent community opinion survey gave the highest priority to supporting a bond issue. Those results seem to reflect deep appreciation for our work.
Southwest Open School provides a tremendous opportunity not only for the students from diverse backgrounds who enroll there but also for their families and, ultimately, for the whole community. Through SWOS unique expeditionary learning curriculum and character-building program, young people who were nearing a dead end are getting a second chance to achieve their dreams and to contribute to society.
If you have any further questions about SWOS and the bond question, I urge you to contact me at 970-565-1150 x6012 or jhite@cortez.k12.co.us.
Finally, on behalf of the staff, board and students of Southwest Open School, I would like to thank you for standing by us for a quarter-century as we serve our communitys youth.
Judy Hite is director of the Southwest Open School.