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On September 8, voters in the Webster City Community School District will be asked to consider three questions related to the future of our schools: approval of a revenue purpose statement, an increase in the current Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL), and a ten-year extension of the PPEL. Together, these measures would provide the resources necessary to renovate and expand the existing high school and construct a new multi-purpose activity facility for student and community use.
I strongly encourage voters to vote YES on all three questions.
I make that recommendation from two very different, but complementary, perspectives. I am a career educator and retired superintendent of Ballard Community Schools. Today, I serve as Director of Economic Development for the Ames Regional Economic Alliance and Executive Director of the Hamilton County Growth Partnership.
As an educator, I believe one of the fundamental responsibilities of a school district--and arguably its most important--is to provide students with safe, modern, engaging and enriching environments in which to learn. I have spent my career working with educators, students, parents and communities to fulfill that responsibility.
The reality is that Webster City High School is woefully outdated. The facilities students use today provide a learning environment that is dramatically inferior to what students experience in many school districts throughout Iowa.
We need to be honest about what that means.
Every year that passes in an inferior learning environment is a year these students will never get back. The students sitting in Webster City classrooms today will graduate and move on. We cannot give them those years back later.
There is no justifiable reason that adolescents in the Webster City Community School District deserve less than their peers in other Iowa communities. Our students share the same backgrounds. They possess the same aspirations. They have the same potential. They deserve the same opportunity to learn, grow and participate in enriching educational experiences as children throughout the state of Iowa.
This is not simply a facilities issue. It is a moral imperative.
Our community has an obligation to provide its children with the very best educational environment we can reasonably provide. That does not mean building the most extravagant facility or pursuing amenities simply for the sake of having them. It means recognizing when our existing facilities no longer meet the needs of our students and having the courage to address the problem.
I also believe this project is critically important from an economic development perspective.
When prospective residents consider moving to a community, they consider the quality of its schools. When businesses and industries consider where to invest, locate or expand, they consider the ability of a community to attract and retain a quality workforce. Schools are an important part of that equation.
Over the past two years, my work in Webster City and throughout Hamilton County has given me the opportunity to develop great relationships with people who genuinely want great things for this community. I have listened to business leaders, community leaders, parents, educators and residents talk about the future of Webster City. It has become evident to me that addressing the high school is among the most important priorities facing the community.
Communities communicate their priorities through the investments they are willing to make.
When prospective residents or businesses see aging and inadequate schools and community facilities, they can reasonably interpret that as a lack of vision or commitment to future prosperity. Insufficient investment in these fundamental community assets becomes an obstacle that potential newcomers may not want to overcome--and frankly, they should not have to when superior alternatives are available within a 30-minute drive.
Economic development is not simply about recruiting a business to town. It is about creating a community where people want to live, raise their families, work, invest and build their futures. Quality schools are central to that effort.
I understand that these measures represent a financial commitment for taxpayers. That deserves to be taken seriously. But responsible leadership requires us to consider not only the cost of an investment, but also the cost of failing to make it.
We can continue to defer the problem, knowing that our students will continue learning in facilities that are significantly behind those available to their peers. Or we can make a thoughtful, long-term investment in the students, families and community we want Webster City to become.
I believe we should choose the latter.
I also want to acknowledge that I am not a taxpayer in the Webster City Community School District. I do not pretend otherwise, and I recognize that ultimately it is the taxpayers of the district who must make this decision.
But after two years of working in this community, I feel a responsibility to share my perspective. I have come to know many people in Webster City who care deeply about this community and want great things for its future. From my experience as an educator and superintendent, and from my current work in economic development, I believe this project represents an important investment not only in today’s students, but in the future of Webster City.
The question before voters is ultimately bigger than a building.
It is a question about what we believe our students deserve. It is a question about what kind of community we want to be. And it is a question about whether we are willing to invest in the future rather than continue accepting the limitations of the past.
I believe Webster City students deserve modern, safe and enriching facilities.
I believe Webster City families deserve a school system they can be proud of.
And I believe Webster City deserves the kind of educational and community infrastructure that will help attract the people and businesses necessary for long-term prosperity.
For those reasons, I encourage Webster City Community School District voters to vote YES on all three questions on September 8.
Ottie Maxey Career Educator and Retired Superintendent,
Ballard Community Schools Director of Economic Development,
Ames Regional Economic Alliance Executive Director,
Hamilton County Growth Partnership