Letter-Dog track is great deal

Dear Editor

We are fortunate to have twin college sophomores succeeding because of great preparation provided by the Hudson School District. A healthy, progressive school district is best measured by the finished product, and in our case, we are pleased with the results.

However, we recognize areas of growing concern in our district. First, the lack of Advanced Placement Biology is a continuing deficiency in the Hudson curricula, due to insufficient lab space. In addition, the past benefits provided by the “house structure” in our middle school are eroding. The “house structure” attempts to ease the transition from elementary to middle school for our students. Unfortunately, Hudson Middle School has the unenviable distinction of being the largest in our state. Increasing the number of “cart teachers” isn’t a viable short- or long-term solution.

For these reasons, and many other reasons, it is past time to expand our educational facilities to continue Hudson’s pursuit of academic excellence. I was privileged to serve on the School Task Force in 2004 with several other interested persons in the district. As part of our charge, we visited every school in the district. One of the conclusions reached, after extensive research, was that the district then needed additional space to handle growing numbers. One outcome of the task force was the building of River Crest Elementary.

In addition, the 2004 taskforce was very interested as to the possibility of securing the St. Croix Meadows Dog Track for future space for a variety of reasons. The owner of the track was contacted, but at that time had no interest in discussing any possible negotiation. Had there been an interest by the owner to negotiate, the taskforce would have further explored the possibilities of that space fitting into the district’s short- and long-term space needs. We now have a current appraisal of $16,800,000 for the dog track, and an opportunity to purchase at less than 50 percent of this amount. There has been significant planning over the past decade by the School Board, and other interested citizens to continue Hudson’s high standards of academic achievement. Please join us in voting “yes” to secure an extremely valuable piece of property at a significantly discounted price.

Todd and Kristen Gillingham, Hudson

Tags: opinion, letters, education