Letter: Middle school renovations are needed

To the editor: Recently I attended one of the public meetings on the Shawano Community Middle School referendum. After hearing the facts, I’d encourage our voting-age citizens to vote in favor of this referendum. The middle school is the oldest school facility in the district, and 65 percent of the referendum is to replace and upgrade the HVAC systems that were original to the building in 1954. After 61 years of service, it’s time to get a more efficient system into the middle school. As somebody that coached middle school football for nine years, I can truly attest that the locker rooms needed to be renovated years ago and truly are an embarrassment when boys and girls teams travel to play in Shawano. Other enhancements bolster our security systems and ADA requirements at the middle school. As we try to recruit new employees to work in Shawano, it is critical that our school facilities are modernized, otherwise people will decide to commute from other areas of Northeastern Wisconsin so their kids have a nice school system to attend. It’s time to renovate the middle school, and I hope you will vote “yes” on Nov. 3. Chuck Dallas, Town of Richmond