Says Oak Park bond is bloated

Superintendent Tony Knight (The Acorn, Sept. 28) is again sounding the alarm about the sup- posedly run-down, even unsafe, state of the Oak Park Schools. "We don't have the money to cover major costs like new roofs," he says. So he wants voters to ap- prove a brand new bond issue, not much smaller than the one that failed last June.

But what does the district need so urgently? The school board's most recent priority list identifies only one repair requiring immedi- ate action-new roofs at three schools. According to the district's own cost estimates, this work could be done for $3.6 million. That's just 3 percent of the $80 mil- lion to be raised under Measure H6 ($71.1 million in bonds plus $9 mil- lion in state matching funds).

Most of the bond money, by far, would go not to repairs but to construction and upgrades. These include new buildings, despite the district's shrinking local enroll- ment, and to other projects that serve no educational purpose and make no economic sense. For in- stance, $1.1 million in bond funds would go toward landscaping with drought-tolerant plants. Can the district ever save enough money on water bills to recoup that investment? Somehow, I doubt it.

Knight says the district needs money for new roofs and other essentials, but it doesn't need any- thing close to $80 million. Using parents' concerns about real prob- lems, he and the school board are trying to sneak another Taj Mahal spending plan past the voters. Oak Park's tax rates for school bonds are already much higher than those of neighboring districts. If Knight and the school board suc- ceed in putting H6 through, those rates will be locked in for another 25 years. I urge a no vote on H6. Tom Gray Oak Park