Dear Editor:
‘Tis the season of costumes and campaigns. As Vote yes on 5A signs appear across Pagosa, campaign season has a way of dressing a complicated decision in a simple slogan. The promise of a beautiful new school is powerful. We all want inspiring classrooms for our children and wonderful spaces for our teachers. But the question before us is not, “Do you support our schools?” It is, “Is this the right plan for our children and our town?” A rendering can show us a building. It cannot show us everything it leaves outside the frame. A few weeks ago, that question took on new meaning as I drove west toward Durango. I passed the stone sign thanking visitors to Pagosa and inviting them to return, then continued beyond it. Farther down the highway, I reached the area where the district plans to move our elementary and middle school students. My heart sank. The Vista Boulevard site west of town would separate students from the connected network of neighboring schools, the library, the river, parks, trails, athletic fields, and civic spaces our community has spent generations building for them. For families across our community, separation would mean more driving, more scheduling, and more childhood spent in cars. Right now, elementary students walk to the library. Middle school PE classes walk along the San Juan River. Imagine what it gives a child to step outside during an ordinary school day, move beside living water, breathe fresh air, and laugh with friends. Perhaps it is the season, but lately I have imagined the voices of Pagosa’s past, present, and future. I hear those who wrote grants, built parks, created accessible pathways, and connected these places for our children. I hear the present asking us to pay attention. And I imagine future children asking us to protect this inheritance for them. We do not need to manufacture a magical learning environment from the ground up. Our children already have one. A large lot can hold an impressive building, but it cannot recreate generations of community investment or the connections surrounding our schools today. A no vote asks us to reimagine our school buildings without sacrificing what makes growing up in Pagosa extraordinary. Our children will live inside the choice we make today. My hope is that they inherit more than a new building. May they inherit the river, the paths, the library, the parks, and the feeling that they belong to a community that recognized what was precious and chose to protect it.
Cody Allione
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