The only issue on the ballot is for $230 million in bonds for the Marysville School District.

We urge everyone to vote for the bonds. It will take a 60 percent supermajority to pass.

The schools are old and in disrepair. They need to be replaced. Some should have been replaced years ago, but the economy was so bad it didn’t happen.

The district did everything the right way in forming this bond measure. It had a 40-member citizens group study the issue for about a year. After touring all of the schools, the citizens actually decided more needed to be done than the district thought it would.

The citizens decided the community needs to replace Cascade and Liberty elementary schools, Marysville and Totem middle schools, and most of Marysville-Pilchuck High School. Those schools are all 50- to 60-years old.

Because Totem and Marysville middle are just blocks apart, the citizens decided a new middle school should be built instead in north Marysville, near the Strawberry Fields athletic complex.

Marysville Superintendent Becky Berg calls it a civil rights issue. Not based on a particularly minority, but on a civil right that affects all races – poverty. The schools that would be replaced are in some of the poorest parts of the city.

Buckets are in classrooms to catch rain from leaky ceilings. Dividers between rooms don’t close all the way. Siding has fallen off, so interior framing is damaged. Heating systems are failing. On one old system, parts have not been made for 20 years. So, school board president Pete Lundberg said, maintenance has had to “MacGyver” things together to keep it running.

The district has done research that says better schools lead to better academic performance. It lists Marysville Getchell as an example. Student scores there have climbed since its inception. New schools also would encourage more students to attend and not drop out, which is a huge plague on society and could help reduce crime.

The district also says passage would be a shot in the arm for the city. With better schools comes more growth, which would help the property values of those who are paying the taxes. Construction of schools would also provide more jobs in the community.

Cost savings with the new schools would include transportation and energy efficiency. Safety also will improve, as the new schools will have fewer outside doors.

The only good reason anyone has for not voting for the bonds is they can’t afford it. Seniors on a fixed income, however, can qualify for an exemption.

The cost is $1.25 per $1,000 valuation. So, on a $280,000 home, which is about average for this community, a property owner would pay $340 a year. That is less than $1 a day. There are so many ways we can all think of to save $1 a day so we can support our community’s schools. For example, with the drop in gas prices alone the past few months, many of us are saving more than $1 a day.

Most of us love our community of Marysville, otherwise we wouldn’t live here. But think how much better we would feel if we had five new schools. And don’t forget all of the other schools also would be spruced up if the bonds pass. This measure helps all of the schools all over the town.

The last time Marysville passed a bond was 10 years ago, for Grove Elementary and MG. The cost then was $1.18 per $1,000. It only passed by eight votes. Let’s show Marysville just how much we love our kids and pass it by more than that this time.