To the editor:

I received my ballot yesterday and you should have as well. A few words on the upcoming school bond:

The district has been a very good steward of our tax money, consistently coming in on (or under) budget and keeping our tax bills as low as reasonably possible;

If you have kids at Blakely, go visit Wilkes and see all the wonderful possibilities and vote yes;

If you live on the south end, go visit Wilkes and see what a school like this in your neighborhood will mean and vote yes;

If you have kids at Ordway, the district has to take care of Blakely before they can move onto your school, so please vote yes;

If you have high schoolers, tour the 100 Building and vote yes to keep BHS ranked No. 7 in Washington and No. 321 nationally out of 21,000 high schools (Can I say that again? No. 321 out of 21,000 high schools);

If you have or had kids at Wilkes (we had both the before and after construction experience), then you realize what an incredible learning center it is, that the community supported your neighborhood getting it, and that it is now your turn to vote yes and support putting another great facility like this on the island; and

Finally, if you live on Bainbridge Island, please continue to support our schools both for the enrichment of our children and for the betterment of our community — vote yes!

It is estimated that Wilkes will last for 75 years — please show me a more solid investment in our community than that!

The bond needs to pass by 60 percent, so it is not enough to say that you support it and then not mail in your ballot — measures like this sometimes pass or fail by a margin of less than a hundred votes, so it is critical that you vote! If you would like more information, please visit www.bipss.org. Many thanks and, if I didn’t say it enough already, please vote yes!

MARK D. EMERSON

Battle Point