In every journalist’s life there comes a time when she has to pass the torch onto someone else. For me, it is time to pass the Tahoma construction bond measure and overcrowded schools narrative on after covering it off and on for the past three years.

There are two primary reasons for this. First, Katherine Smith can offer a fresh perspective on it, and she has a fair amount of familiarity with the Tahoma School District. Second, my daughter is rapidly approaching school age and I’m getting to a point where I can’t separate my opinions as a parent of a future Tahoma student from my writing. I recognize this and am handing the story off.

In the summer of 2011 I wrote a column offering my thoughts on the bond measure which failed that year. Among the things I said was that I wouldn’t put my daughter in an overcrowded school. Now that she’s two years away from kindergarten I still feel this way and even more strongly now than I did then.

From the time I started covering the Tahoma School District in 2005 after helping to start this paper, I have been nothing short of impressed with how it is run, the curriculum, the teachers and the kind of students, really the kind of people it helps create. I look forward to putting my daughter into the Tahoma school system.

And I will vote for the construction bond measure in November. Just like I did in April 2011. I believe supporting our schools means it is considerably less likely the kids in my neighborhood will start breaking into my car or house and much more likely the good schools we have will continue to shape amazing young people — who, by the way, are generally supported by wonderful parents who partner with educators.

I also know that I am likely not the only one who was surprised when I heard — Katherine attended the board meeting Aug. 1 where the amount was set — the final amount the board set for the bond measure. In 2011 they went to the community asking it to support a $120 million bond. This time, the amount is $195, and there are some in the district’s boundaries who will balk at that number. People who don’t have kids in school anymore, seniors on a fixed income, and folks who still haven’t fully recovered from the recession. I understand that.

But, the conservative folks in the community who can afford it will also wonder why they should have to support this bond.

I know the VOTE Yes committee, which will campaign for support of the bond measure, is made up of smart people who learned from the last three bond measure failures and understand the challenges this one presents.

Campaigning in 2011 began in March for a fall general election. This time, they have three short months to rally voters in the school district around the cause.

Now, it should be noted that though the price tag is higher — the bulk of the cost comes in building a brand new Tahoma High School which appears to have a price tag of $140 million — it will not be a whole lot more in taxes than what property owners in the district pay now on the last bond the district passed in 1997. That is set to expire in 2016. I know a significant chunk of the property taxes I pay on my house, about half, goes to the school district. I also got phone calls and emails and comments on the website in 2011 from people who resent that.

It’s not the district’s fault that basic education is not fully funded by the state Legislature and that the funding formula is broken. Don’t hold it against Tahoma officials, who are doing the best they can to provide a world class education to your kids and in two years mine, with less than they need.

And district staff are dealing with the double-edged sword of Tahoma’s reputation. Many people who moved here in the past decade did so because of the schools. As a result, the classrooms are overcrowded, which means we are going to be asked to vote to pay higher taxes to build to create capacity as well as to improve the places our kids spend 180 days a year in.

I think it’s worth it. That’s because I have been at Tahoma Junior High during passing time. I’ve spent time in portables at Tahoma High during the winter when they are freezing cold in the morning and blazing hot in the afternoon. Or the ones which smell. I’ve been at Cedar River Middle School during lunch when the cafeteria is bursting at the seams.

Then there’s the reality of the safety concerns of having 19 portables at Tahoma High. It is a security nightmare. I could go on but the only way — and I said this two years ago — to know what it is like is to go see for yourself. If you are skeptical, go to a school in September such as Lake Wilderness Elementary which had about 1,100 students last year and was the largest elementary in the state, then tell me you won’t vote for the bond measure.

If you care about your safety, if you care about your property values, if you care about your neighborhood, if you care about your community at all, you should support the bond measure even if you don’t have children in school.

I have paid property taxes to Tahoma for nine years now with no immediately apparent direct positive effects for me. But I think the combination of supportive parents and a good school system means the children in our community, for the most part, are doing good things and are not breaking into my car or house. They are also going out into the world and changing it.

Parents in this community are doing their part at home, educators are doing their part in the classroom so let’s go the rest of the way as a community to ensure the district continues on its current academic trajectory by funding the construction bond measure which will provide the environment needed for success.