To the Editor:

My husband and I relocated to Troy 15 years ago for his job. We are from Ohio and loved the small town, community feel and that we were still close to our families. Over the last 15 years we have made amazing friends, become involved in our community and are raising our three children.

When we originally moved to Troy we had no idea that this would become our home and over the course of the last 15 years we have made very specific decisions to stay in Troy and continue to raise our children here. Those decisions were driven by many factors; the friends we have here, the education our kids are receiving, the love of community that we see in and around Troy and the opportunity to give back in many different ways.

We have been presented the opportunity to give back to our kids and future generations by providing them with the schools that will help them succeed. These new buildings will provide our students and teachers with new, advanced learning environments, the ability to adjust the classrooms for new ways of teaching, better safety features in our schools to protect our children and will also allow us to take advantage of a large injection of funds from the state to help us achieve this goal. Great schools mean a strong community and one where more couples will find a home where they want to raise their children and invest in the community as well.

Yes, the older elementary buildings are pretty — however, I’ve been in these buildings and recognize that they are not sustainable — they are not ADA accessible, there is a tremendous amount of energy to just try to keep these buildings open every year. We could do so much better by spending that energy and those dollars on new and innovative ways to teach the students, on new technology in the classroom, and on new learning experiences and programs.

We will be voting Yes on March 17, to ensure our children’s education and the education for generations to come.

— Theresa and Keith Packard