I have given much consideration to the South Portland High School renovation issue. I had many questions which were answered at the renewsphs.org and South Portland websites and by tours of the facility. I urge residents to support this bond question by voting “yes.”

I am a cautious spender, particularly in this economy, and wanted clear answers about the proposed expenditures. The websites do a commendable job of addressing questions and explaining the project, particularly the FAQs on the school site. I fear the worst if we as a community do not step up to our responsibilities on Nov. 2.

Additional Photos

Jeanne Crocker, the principal of South Portland High School, is backed by readers who also support the renovation proposal on the ballot next Tuesday. 2007 Press Herald file

Here is why I support the project:

1. Schools are the pivotal points of communities. A neglected school is a negative reflection on the community as a whole.

2. Our students need to learn in an environment that is secure, healthy and adequate in its ability to handle today’s technology.

3. The price tag for the project has been thoroughly vetted by two independent parties and given a stamp of approval. Our most favorable borrowing time is now when our city’s bond rating is high making our interest lower, and with construction rates at historical lows. Failure to pay now will mean paying more later.

This vote touches the heart of our values, whether or not you have children in the school system. Do you value your community? Do you believe we all have an ownership stake in making South Portland a desirable place to live, raise families, work and run a business? I do.

Bernadette Papi
South Portland

I am writing in support of the initiative to renovate South Portland High School. I recently took advantage of the opportunity to tour the high school and it didn’t take long for me to witness the extreme condition that has the school’s accreditation on warning status.

After living in the Washington, D.C., area for the past decade, my husband and I moved to South Portland last summer with our hearts set on raising our two small children (ages 1 and 3) in a strong community that offered a balanced lifestyle.

We looked extensively at homes and communities throughout the area, but we always kept comparing everything we saw to South Portland — the sense of community we felt when talking to residents, the excellent reputation of all the elementary schools, the diversity that fuels this great city, not to mention the extensive recreational programs, outdoor offerings and the beautiful beaches.

Ultimately, it was that sense of community that drove our decision to call South Portland “home” for our family and it is our hope and belief that this great community will respond and support the high school renovation at this critical time.

A strong school system is what drives a strong community and a strong community drives local businesses and increased home values, ultimately attracting more and more families and businesses. And the opposite stands true, too.

Take pride in South Portland, invest in our children, support our community and vote “yes”!

Regan Johnson
South Portland

Ever since moving to South Portland three years ago, I have been impressed with the sense of pride in community and collective responsibility of the people here. This inspired me to take a high school tour this fall to see which way I would vote on the bond come November.

I went to a high school in Wyoming built in 1960, and I was dubious that conditions could be too bad. I’m not the type to require that my kids go to school in a Taj Mahal. Also, my family of three (almost four) lives on a fixed income of $50,000 per year, so I was hoping to avoid raising property taxes on myself.

The tour was grim; the place is functionally obsolete. Electrical, plumbing, roofing — you name it, it’s got a major problem. Our community is middle class, but this high school is nearing Third World. Sure, hot water in bathrooms is a luxury (remember, I come from the land of “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps”), but structural decay, HVAC dysfunction, asbestos and insufficient electricity — that’s serious. It obviously needs repair, but how much?

I looked at the plan and, more important, the independent reviews of it to find some excess and some reason to vote “no” and wait. The more I learn, the more I understand why it costs what it does. There are many constraints and this is the only plan that works with them, brings the school up to code and keeps it accredited.

This building is ours. It is a symbol of our children’s future and their house of learning. It is currently decrepit and I wouldn’t make my kids go there. I’m voting “yes” because I know these tax dollars are going to a good cause.

Cass Baker
South Portland

USM’s color-coded deans have to know an awful lot

The USM Free Press has published the course listings for the new University of Southern Maine. We have no way of knowing whether the allocation of courses as published is final. Maybe it is just a joke.

It is color coded: light green for the deanship of Communications, Culture & the Arts College; blue for Public Service, Business, Graduate Education & Social Work College; reddish-brown for Engineering, Health Professions, Nursing, Science & Technology College.

Under each heading there is a list of courses (subjects): 14 under green, 10 under blue, 15 under reddish-brown.

There will be a Green Dean, a Blue Dean, and a Reddish-brown Dean. The salaries of each will be apparently about $125,000.

Mostly what deans do is go to meetings and shuffle a few papers. From time to time they attest to the validity of the courses under their watchful eye. At least they do if they know anything about the courses allotted to them.

For instance, the Green Dean is, apparently, expected to be learned in American and New England studies, art, communication and media studies (advertising?), criminology, economics, English (including the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing), geography and anthropology, history, modern and classical languages and literature, music, philosophy, political science, sociology, theater. That is an impressive congeries.

Lynn Kuzma, who is now chair and associate professor of political science, must be, a polymath of extraordinary strength. She will be the Green Dean.

The other deans have a similar potpourri of unrelated courses.

This posting of courses has all the look of the work of three blind men trying to assemble one jigsaw puzzle out of 20 different puzzles.

If this presentation is the new USM, it isn’t wrong. It’s loony!

L. Morrill Burke
Long Island

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