Students who attended Nederland High School the first year it was open are now around 55 years old, many with grandchildren in the district. The high school is the newest school in the district. Those who began their education at Nederland’s oldest school, Langham Elementary, in its first year — 1939 — are at least 75 years old and may have celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.

Most NISD main buildings are around 50 year old or older, according to a Facilities Master Plan prepared for the district as the board of trustees and a citizens advisory committee studied the possibility of asking residents to approve a bond issue to rebuild and modernize schools.

As Phase 1 of its building program, the board this week approved a $126 million plan to:

• Build three new elementary schools.

• Build a new C.O. Wilson Middle School.

• Modernize the heating and air conditioning system at Central Middle School.

• Modernize the main building at the high school.

• Purchase land adjacent to the high school.

• Renovate the alternative education center.

• Build a new press box and install field turf at Bulldog Stadium.

There is little doubt that the improvements are needed and would decrease the amount of money the district spends each year from its educational budget on maintenance and repairs. What is in doubt is whether the community will support a massive building program in this time of economic uncertainty.

If the board does call a bond issue for this November it will need to present a compelling informational campaign on the reasons the projects are needed. The district is prohibited from using taxpayer dollars to promote a bond issue. But it can provide information.

One thing the board could do to increase the chances that the most needed projects are approved is to offer the voters an “a la carte” ballot in which the proposals are broken into different propositions so voters can approve the parts of Phase 1 they think are most important for the students in the district.

The proposal to spend $1.33 million on the press box and field turf at Bulldog Stadium has the potential to be the most controversial part of the package. Many times taxpayers see extracurricular activities as a nice extra but not essential to a quality education. If that part of the package draws heated opposition and the only way to vote against it is to vote against the entire proposal, parts of the bond issue that are critical to improving the district’s facilities could fail, leaving NISD to continue a band-aid approach to keeping old building in operation.

Even though the board has approved the $126 million plan for Phase 1, it has not called a bond election. We hope that when it does call for the vote, it will carefully consider the state of the economy and the attitude of residents about increasing their tax bills. Then it should put priorities on the various parts of the proposal and present it to the voters in a way that the most pressing needs are met even if the entire plan can’t be put into effect right away.