The Oxford School District referendum has now officially arrived, scheduled for a vote on Sept. 26.

The price tag that city residents are being asked to meet to build a new elementary school in Oxford plus “providing necessary water, light, heating, air conditioning and sewerage facilities for school buildings” is $38 million.

For some small cities in Mississippi, this would have no chance of passing. Any extra tax burden is considered just that — a burden. But Oxford is all about education and nobody denies that a new elementary school is needed both now and in planning for the future.

Just because it is generally a good thing, however, doesn’t mean we should not have dialogue between now and Sept. 26 about the bond issue and what it means.

We encourage citizens to use the community newspaper as a forum, submitting letters to the editor and guest columns for publication. We can’t assure that all will get into print but most will be published online as long as they stick closely to the topic about schools, building for the future, and paying for a bond issue.

We do know, though, that it’s only the healthy, growing communities that get to dream big about new elementary schools and planning for the future, so we are glad to see Oxford on the move and appreciate the Oxford School District board’s hard work to bring us to this point.