Dear Editor,

I used to describe these parts as a place that displays both the “vision” of Jules Verne and the spirit of Mayberry…all at the same time.  And I have always considered it a very special gift to be able to travel but a few miles in any direction from the center of Warsaw and stand on fertile “farm-ground” and visit with the “values” that work it. For here, in this school district of ours; it’s always been about learning; but learning “how to live”, as well. That’s what makes this place so special. Truth is, our children unite us.  They always have; and sooner than we think, our kids will carry our flame.

Whether farm or factory or school…we’re really all in the same business…the production of a high quality product of enriching and enduring value…and today, no workplace and no school building can long avoid adapting to the ever-changing technologies of an ever-changing world…..to the increasing safety and security risks in a world we, too often, call more civilized.

Look, our school district is greater than Warsaw/Winona Lake…and I’m glad.  We have an elected School Board representing our entire school district, which has done the job we elected them to do; but they are no longer allowed to save up money and build or buy schools.

School Boards, you see, do not create a “tax code or structure” that impacts anyone.  They work within the confines of State and Federal government laws and allowances…and that now includes placing the legitimate and critical building and security needs of our kids in our hands; with a yes or no vote to a referendum question on Election Day, May 5…deciding it all.

So please remember, that when you vote there are unnamed candidates embedded in the referendum question…candidates and a cause that have always brought us together…and I would ask you to vote yes for our children; for no matter how you cut it, this referendum is but another chapter in the “story of us all”…about a good place that takes care of its own.

Jeff Plank