Supporting P’ville Schools Bond is a Smart Investment for District Residents

December 16, 2024 Examiner Media

In 2006, there was a discussion about addressing the aging 1929 Pleasantville High School building (modified in the 1970s) to meet the demands and desires of the 21^st century and the expectations that go along with an evolving community. Did the facilities need a facelift, which would be less costly and satisfactory, or did we need a significant new build and upgrade?

In 2000-01, there was a conversation about the beloved Bedford Road School (BRS) and whether it was sufficient with renovations to house our precious Pleasantville students in their first steps into education or whether a whole new building would be better to serve their needs.

In both instances, the school boards made challenging yet positive community-altering decisions that we don’t think many could argue today were not the best decisions for the district, village and, most importantly, students. If you invested in Pleasantville 20, 30 years ago, we believe these decisions turned into excellent financial investments and, more importantly, benefitted our youngest community members tremendously.

The current school board called on the community almost a year ago, asking for volunteers to begin the discussion about its athletics facilities and other significant facility repairs and upgrades. The Board of Education publicized the request online and in direct mail communications. From this group of community members, there was an almost unanimous consensus that just replacing existing facilities would be short-sighted and that some of our facilities were insufficient due to the daily demands of our schools and village.

The school board had its own deliberations based on these recommendations and came back with the plan before you on Tuesday. Rethinking and replacing the 20-plus-year-old BRS playground, adding a safe bathroom facility apart from the middle school and high school buildings, an additional competitive turf field and lights to our main field (beyond the replacement items) are not outlandish requests or desires. Any school district or community would have these types of projects on their short list.

Our youngest child will graduate from high school this June. When we bought our Pleasantville home in 2000, we spent every penny we had. It was hard financially, and the tax bill was daunting. Later, we both stood at the voting booths in 2001 and 2006, thinking about the bonds and their tax implications, but more strongly, we felt a sense of obligation to our family and community to not be short-sighted.

We believed then and now that the school board and administration were and are making responsible decisions that would and will make us even more proud to live here and invest in our youth and community.

We have loved our life in Pleasantville over the past 24 years. We will vote yes for this new bond proposal for those same reasons today, and we hope many others will do the same.

Holly and Larry Boes

Pleasantville

Larry Boes is a former Pleasantville Board of Education member.