In 1971, my family moved to Crestwood because my parents loved the neighborhood and the school district.

I attended Crestwood Elementary, Truman Middle and am a graduate of Lindbergh High School. There was a boom of young families in this area in the ’70s. Our elementary schools were at capacity and Truman and Sperreng middle schools were both in full use. As the population got a little older in the area and there were fewer small children, adjustments were made. Sperreng became our only middle school and Truman was eventually turned into an elementary school.

When my boys neared school age, we knew it was time to move back to Lindbergh. And we’re not alone. Many other young families are doing the same. Our population is shifting again and we need to adjust our schools to meet current demands.

We need both our middle schools back again. Right now, there are so many kids crammed into Sperreng that some are being taught in spaces that were once janitor closets. And the only way to expand further is to put up trailers in the school yard. That’s not what we want for our kids.

Just like we need to maintain our homes, we need to see to some much needed maintenance on our school district. We need to expand our existing elementary schools and we need to get Concord spruced up and turned back into an elementary school so our littlest ones can be closer to home. We need to turn Truman back into a middle school so our sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders have room to learn and we can get rid of those trailers at Sperreng.

We need Prop R to pass in order to make this happen.

I didn’t understand what Prop R was at first, so I did some digging. Prop R passing won’t raise our taxes and Prop R failing won’t lower our taxes. It simply extends the debt the district already has and will be paid back out of the tax dollars already being raised, just over a longer period of time.

Prop R isn’t going to have a whole lot to do with the adults at all, it’s for our children and grandchildren. We need this to pass to give our kids the schools and the education that we want them to have, the experience that many of us moved to this area to give them. If Prop R fails, it’s not going to save us a dime in taxes, but it will hurt our children and grandchildren.

That’s why my vote will be a resounding “yes” on Prop R.

Mary Stadter

Crestwood