Dear Editor:
For many of us, the decision on 5A is difficult because we care deeply about our public schools. We love our schools and want them to remain a strong integrated part of our community. That is why it is so hard to be asked to physically move our elementary and middle schools away from the community’s core.
I had a recent conversation where the desire to keep schools downtown was dismissed as “nostalgic.” But I would argue that valuing a school’s relationship to its town is not resistance to change. It is actually a forward-looking planning principle.
Our downtown schools are within walking distance of the Ruby Sisson Library, Riverwalk, San Juan River, Reservoir Hill, Yamaguchi Park, GeoDomes, Community Center, Town Hall, and kid-friendly businesses. These are not sentimental decorations, but educational and civic resources available to every student. By walking from school to these places, children learn that the community belongs to them.
And that they belong here.
That connection is about more than preserving the past; it helps raise young people with pride in their schools and in the community they call home.
Supporting schools does not require supporting every school plan. As a parent, I know firsthand our schools need real investment, and I hope new buildings may be part of the answer. A downtown solution may be harder, but difficulty alone should not decide the outcome. As we make this choice, what do we want our schools’ relationship with Pagosa to look like for generations to come?
Kelly Tuten
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