Like many of you I have heard stories about why we need to pass the Tahoma School Bond and I have heard reasons for voting no.

Regardless of the side what you are on, one of the most important things we need to keep in focus is the safety of our kids and their learning environment.

So, I decided that I would go to different schools Tuesday and experience the chaos that I have been told exists.

The overcrowding, lack of common area space, school bus crowding and more. I truly have to say that I am on overload after this experience.

I spent most of my time at Tahoma Junior High since it is one of the craziest places in our district. I had Principal Rob Morrow and Safety Coordinator Sean Kelly show me around and point out the areas of concern the staff has for the safety of our kids.

I honestly don’t know where to begin. The lunch room doesn’t even begin to hold the number of kids that we have in the school. Bathroom space is almost non existent compared to the kids that need to use it, and trying to walk through the halls at period passing was beyond horrific.

This next statement is probably going to make some people angry, but it truly is the reality of what we live in: We all know that schools are not guaranteed 100 percent safe and secure.

If someone wants to get in and hurt our children we have all seen that it can happen. We live in a world that we cannot prevent every horror from happening, but we should do our best to eliminate it.

Removing overcrowding is one of those areas. As I walked the hallway with the kids after third lunch, the bumping, pushing, yelling, etc., all I could imagine was someone pulling out a knife and starting to stab the children and staff around them. I found myself getting very angry that our kids are put in this position.

But this is not the fault the district staff. They go above and beyond. I even watched the assistant principal trying to reassure a new eighth grader that she would make friends and that she would be OK. Or the staff that sat down and ate lunch in the middle of the students. Teachers who walked up to the new students and helped them figure out where they needed to go since they were so lost and confused.

It is time for our community to step up for our children.

They deserve to be safe at school. They deserve to be able to go to the bathroom when they want to and not wait for 20 other kids to go first. They deserve to eat lunch in a lunch room that can accommodate all of them and not get pushed outside in the pouring down rain because they were the last ones who were able to get in to the lunchroom.

I am truly overwhelmed by the environment we ask our kids to learn in and most importantly what we ask our staff to teach in.

As a community we need to come together for our children. We need to show our teachers that we value them every day.

Our buildings are truly falling apart. The rats, mold, lack of heating and air conditioning, smell of urine in hallways and multiple other problems is not what our teachers and children deserve.

We are so lucky to have award-winning staff right here and they deserve to be in award-winning buildings where their only concern should be teaching our kids. Not whether or not our children can walk down an over crowded hallway without being stabbed.

I guarantee you that I will be voting yes on our bond after the experience I had Tuesday. I hope all of you will also join me in this vote or at least take the time to visit one of our schools and see for yourself what it is like to be a teacher or a student for just a few minutes.

Megan Sheridan is an unpaid freelance columnist for the Reporter. She can be reached at megansheridan@relylocal.com or 253-223-1593.