To the editor:

I have been a Barrington taxpayer for 43 years, and our three children graduated from Barrington schools. Several months ago I participated in a visioning process designed to develop educational plans for the proposed Barrington Middle School. After three days of intensive work, the group posted large chart paper on the wall summarizing their findings as to the direction the school should take in the coming years. The overwhelming sentiment is that the school should adopt a project based learning approach in which problem solving and collaboration were paramount.

When I read the news article about the forum on the school in the Barrington Times I was pleased to see that project based learning got top billing. However, I also read in the same issue that many members of the town council felt that the $68.4 million price tag was not affordable. Was it? 

As I sat down in the school auditorium waiting for presentation to begin, I noted that the tax impact would be $1.12 per $1,000 of assessed value. Since our house is assessed at $300,000, the increase in our tax bill would be $336 a year or $84 a quarter. Could I afford that increase? 

As one who is almost completely retired and on a fixed income, I needed to think carefully about the extra expense. Recently, we had treated two of our grown children to dinner. We are a frugal lot, and the bill with tip came to $84.04. Certainly we could afford that, and I concluded that we could afford that increase on our tax bill each quarter.

I had also read that patching up the existing school would be a better deal. Now, the present school was built in 1958 and 1968 and looking out on the parking park, I did not see any cars of that vintage. My first car was a 1958 Chevy and even if I had spent thousands overhauling it, the jalopy would still be far out of date compared to today’s models. If $10 million is spent to fix the 1958 school, it will still fall short of today’s standards, no less future needs.

I thought of where the future is going. The University of Delaware recently erected a $56 million science building founded on the concept of project based learning. Project based learning is the future in higher education. It should be the future for the Barrington Middle School. 

Vote to approve the referendum on Nov. 8.

William J. Oehlkers

Barrington