Dear Editor,

This fall Measure G will appear on the ballots of all Oakdale residents. It represents an opportunity for us as a community to invest in our future. Our schools are a point of pride in our community and we must ensure that they are maintained and modernized.

As nearly lifelong residents of Oakdale, we appreciate that fiscal responsibility is a core value for many of our residents, and we believe that Measure G is a sound, as well as fairly modest, investment into our schools. It is not new or additional, but rather, a continuation as the old bond expires. Oakdale will still have the fewest school bond measures in our region, and if any state measures pass, like Prop 2 on this November ballot, we must have a local bond in place in order to see any of that state money go to our community.

Like many in our town, we are graduates of Oakdale schools who are proud of what we accomplished there. We are proud of the legacy of academic and athletic success that’s associated with our high school — so much so that we decided to make careers of teaching and coaching there. Although as students ourselves we reaped the benefits of some major facility upgrades and construction projects, we’re having to confront our own aging with the buildings we remember as “new” suddenly needing a lot more maintenance than a fresh coat of paint.

The district does what it can to maintain campuses on its annual budget, but such large projects as replacing windows, plumbing and electrical systems require additional funding. Unfortunately, these kinds of projects aren’t flashy or thrilling. The benefits of this bond will be less like a facelift and more like a knee-replacement surgery: not fun but functional. In a practical and proud community such as ours, however, we hope that constituents will join us in seeing this bond measure as an essential investment in our schools.

Garrett and Savannah Martin,

Oakdale High School teachers