The Sisters School District has earned credibility by performing at the top of many measures of school quality while collecting the lowest tax rate in the county. Now it is asking voters for a 15-year, $14.5 million bond for facility repairs and upgrades.

Voters should say yes.

Measure 9-102 would cost residents 64 cents for each $1,000 of assessed value, or $192 per year on a home assessed at $300,000. If voters say yes, they would still pay the lowest school tax rate in Deschutes County, according to Superintendent Jim Golden.

In return, they would get improved safety, updated technology infrastructure, upgraded facilities and lots of basic maintenance, such as paved parking lots and replaced or enhanced heating systems.

Golden described the need to make school entrances more secure, allowing a clear view of people entering each school and the ability to lock down buildings and have video surveillance that connects to police and fire.

The district also plans technology upgrades to permit development of more modern educational delivery. This means deploying tablets or other electronic devices to students, allowing a move toward electronic textbooks. While we fully support the needed improvement to the district’s technology infrastructure, we are uneasy about using a 15-year bond to buy tablets or other devices that have a five-year lifespan. Still, we think this is a small quibble with an otherwise sound plan, and not a reason to oppose the bond measure.

Despite recent tough economic times, the Sisters District has managed impressive academic achievement, besting state averages and other local districts on numerous measures, from graduation rates to the percentage of students passing state achievement tests, to average SAT scores. It has managed to sustain exceptional innovative programs, including Chinese instruction in all grades, free all-day kindergarten, a luthier program plus art and music at all levels. Eighty percent of its 2014 high school graduating class went to colleges or universities.

We urge voters to take advantage of facilities tours to see for themselves the need for repairs and upgrades. The two-hour outings will start at the district administrative offices at 5 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. Oct. 11.

Then vote yes to preserve the district’s existing infrastructure and give Sisters educators the tools they need going forward.