Dear Editor,
On May 7, Laramie residents can vote on whether or not to raise real estate taxes to pay for a bond that will help finance the relocation of the Laramie High School to the Turner Tract south of Walmart. Such relocation makes little sense and counters the University’s long-term effort to improve the quality of life and education in Laramie.
Firstly, it promotes suburban sprawl. It brings Laramie a bit closer to a little Detroit, with a downtown surrounded by unused land. The school district’s cost calculation for the relocation did not include the extra cost in fuel and bus personnel driving kids out of town. Nor did it consider the extra accidents as high school kids will have to drive out of the 30 mph city zone to get to school, 3 miles from downtown. Invariably there will be lives at stake, silent casualties of short-term thinking. The idea that high school children like to drive cars is passé. Kids today like to communicate, not drive. More importantly, kids need to be given an opportunity to have a healthy lifestyle and that begins with a daily walk or ride to school. Very few kids will be able to do that with a school 3 miles from the town center.
The standard argument from the school district is that Wyoming’s new schools need more space. I would think that the 10 acres the high school currently has is more than most high schools in urban areas in the US have. It is bigger than the west part of the UW campus. Students should be surrounded by the community, not by Walmart and a freeway. The Turner Tract is a very windy place on a hill, far windier than the current location. Not a place you would want to spend much time outdoors. Those of us shopping at Walmart know this.
If this high school is to serve the community for the next 50 years, some long-term thinking is needed. The university has been building up its core. The county and the city should do the same. A school is part of their identity.
Let Laramie grow like little Portland, don’t let it decay like little Detroit. A NO vote on May 7 should not be seen as a vote against the bond. We do need a new high school. The NO vote may convince the school board to rethink whether it wants to be part of a changing America.
Bart Geerts,
Professor, Dept of Atmospheric Sciences
University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY 82072, USA
+1307 766 2261
