Jamestown Public Schools taxpayers will vote today on a five-year, $126 million dollar project from noon to 9 p.m. today at Jefferson and Washington middle schools and Lincoln Elementary School.

This second five-year project is part of a 10-year plan to improve the district’s school buildings following a 2019 Building Condition Survey. The project will aim to accomplish similar goals to improvement work that is currently ongoing: modernizing classrooms and student spaces, improving safety and security, and maintaining the community’s investment in district school buildings.

Because the district has money in its capital reserve fund there is no money coming from the school district’s budget to pay for the 2% of the project that isn’t paid through state building aid.

In our opinion, there aren’t many unnecessary items in this phase of the building projects. Many of the items being worked on will help the city’s schools better serve students far into the future, make school buildings more secure and keep the students in the schools each day more comfortable by improving heating and ventilation systems or other building infrastructure that hasn’t been updated in decades. Make no mistake, $126 million is a lot of money whether it’s paid for through a loan or through state building aid. But this is spending, in our opinion, that is necessary for students and staff of the Jamestown Public Schools District. This project is worth public support.