Gordon Longabach is afraid voters will stubbornly refuse to look at the big picture when they step to the ballot box.

Longabach, among 13 candidates for Lawrence school board, said an opportunity to improve the overall quality of public education in Lawrence will be squandered if folks dwell on parochial interests Feb. 25 in the primary election and April 1 in the general election.

Look no further, he said, than the “not in my back yard” opposition to consolidation of East Heights, Centennial and Riverside elementary schools and efforts to defeat the proposed $59 million bond issue.

“There are a lot of anti-bond people that are getting their forces together — getting their groups, battalions and regiments together — and they’re going to fight this thing,” Longabach said.

He said the campaign is marching toward an emotional, litmus-test election that could jeopardize the district’s future.

“I think people need to think about Lawrence education as a whole,” he said. “You’ve got to look at how everything fits together.”

Longabach, 66, is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, having left the military in 1978 after 23 years of service. He has a degree from Pittsburg State University and while in the Army earned a master’s degree in education at Kansas State University.

He moved to Lawrence 20 years ago, and worked in real estate until 1994. He was a substitute teacher in the Lawrence district and has grandchildren in Lawrence schools.

This is Longabach’s second campaign for school board. In 2001, he received 1,003 votes in the primary — not enough votes to advance to the general election.

He won’t get too stressed if he doesn’t win one of the four open seats on the board.

“You don’t make a lot of friends in this job and don’t get paid anything,” he said. “I just hope everybody gets out to vote.”

Longabach said the state’s investment in public education will likely decline this year, and another bad wheat harvest will place more stress on the Kansas economy.

“I don’t think things over in Topeka are going to get better,” he said.

Longabach said answers to budget problems in the Lawrence district must come from within. That means getting the most out of all district resources — buildings, employees and equipment.

“We need to see facilities improved and have the school system operate with better efficiency,” he said. “We’ve got a good school system here and I want to keep it that way.”

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He said he would vote for the $59 million bond issue because there’s no other reasonable source of money for renovations and additions. Replacing South Junior High School and upgrading Lawrence High School are top priorities, he said. Getting rid of portable classrooms is another key objective, he said.

“It’s a good time for a bond. The interest rates are really favorable right now. We could get some good deals on building schools and fixing up some of these facilities.”

He said consolidating schools is unpleasant business, but the district’s thin operating budget makes it necessary. The district will have 17 elementary schools when Riverside School is closed in May.

If the bond passes, the plan is to build additions at New York and Cordley schools to permit consolidation of East Heights and Centennial schools.

“We’ve got two schools (Centennial, Cordley) that are half a mile apart. I don’t see how we can keep this luxury,” Longabach said. “This is not an east Lawrence versus west Lawrence issue.”

If there were two elementary schools that close on Kasold Drive, he said he would vote to close one of them as well.

Longabach said claims that closure of schools destroys neighborhoods have been exaggerated.

“I don’t think it’s going to erode a neighborhood by having the kids go from one school half a mile to another,” he said.

The district’s facilities landscape will eventually change whether people like it or not, he said. Growth on the city’s perimeter would lead to school construction in those areas down the line, he said.

“We’re going to keep building schools out west. It’s reality. They might have to go somewhere to the east as they (city) annex more land.”