What's wrong with saving money?

I am the co-chair of the Edinburg Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) and I would like to respond to a letter opposing the bond. For many years, I agreed totally with Mr. Feliciano.

His complaints were valid, and that is why I decided to become involved to remedy conditions.

The BOC researched for months to make the best decision. The $112 million will cost the Edinburg taxpayer LESS than the $64 million bond Mr. Feliciano refers to. This bond will save Edinburg taxpayers money by approving $112 million while only having to repay $54 million. I actually agreed with Mr. Feliciano in opposing a $64 million bond but today things are different.

The concept of "unbelievably" converting Harwell Middle School actually makes excellent economic sense to the BOC. It is not too "unbelievable" to make Harwell a high school since it used to be Edinburg High School. Converting Harwell will relieve pressure while saving taxpayers the $54 million it would cost to build a new one. What's wrong with saving money?

Lastly, the BOC spent over three months discussing all fine arts options. Having three learning centers makes perfect sense once all the facts are examined. Building one center costs $20 million and would create problems for the students. By building three "learning" fine arts centers, the district can recover almost 52 percent of the costs of construction making the total cost only 17 percent of the total bond proposal.

Furthermore, having three smaller centers located at each high school will give access to the schools that feed each of the respective high schools. I assume that Mr. Feliciano understands the benefits of having fine arts in the curriculum, so I will only direct interested readers to visit a Web site to get more information: edinburgyes4kids.com.

Bryant Morrison
Edinburg BOC co-chair