Help make sure students have safe schools

To the Editor:

I am writing this letter from both the perspective as a mother with three kids in the Bessemer Area School District and as a teacher. It is our responsibility as citizens of Bessemer to make sure our students have schools where they can feel and be safe. We need to vote on May 6 regarding the Bessemer referendum.

On March 27 we had a lockdown. Everything went well. After it was over the kids had many questions, and I did all I could to answer them as honestly as possible.

On May 6 the people of Bessemer must vote regarding the referendum. We need safe schools. Part of the purpose of the bond is to add security and limit access to make the schools safe.

People keep getting the bond and consolidation mixed up. They think if you are for one, you can’t be for the other. They are separate issues. I’m going to share a sad fact, even though there have been others spreading myths and false hopes: There will not be a big, beautiful, brand new building sitting between the towns. There is no money from the state for it.

A new building, property, parking lots, sports fields, etc. would cost a minimum of $25 million. Taxes would hugely increase. Who would vote for that? No one. Then all the people who were against the referendum or chose not to vote have just sentenced our children, our future into buildings that do not have up-to-date security.

Bessemer has always been a caring, loving, close-knit community who loves and supports the kids. We need to keep it that way. Now more than ever, your vote counts. Vote on May 6 to give our children a school where they not only feel — but actually are — safe.

Sherri Nyquist

Bessemer