Ledyard voters will have a choice Tuesday. They can authorize spending about $24 million in local property tax dollars to renovate as new two town schools, executing a plan that will improve the educational environment, safety and efficiency. Conversely, they can reject that plan and end up spending nearly as much to patch up existing, outdated schools.

The choice is obvious: Approve Tuesday's bond referendum and do the job right.

The plan developed by the Municipal Permanent Building Committee and sent to Tuesday's vote by the Board of Education and Town Council takes a comprehensive and prudent approach to addressing serious deficiencies in existing schools.

If approved, it would close and raze the Ledyard Center School that dates to 1948 and serves students in grades kindergarten through sixth. The building suffers from significant deterioration, including a septic system that is bordering on failure, outdated wiring and a crumbling brick façade. It no longer meets modern expectations for addressing the physical, educational or nutritional needs of students.

Colloquially speaking, it's a dump.

The other components of the plan are the complete renovation and expansion of both Ledyard Middle School and Gallup Hill School.

If voters approve the plan, grade six students will join a middle school that now serves grades seven and eight. This change aligns the school system curriculum with the configuration preferred by the state and expands the educational offerings available to sixth-graders.

Reduced to grades kindergarten to fifth, the as-new and expanded Gallup Hill School would consolidate students from Ledyard Center. The consolidated elementary school may get a new name.

While the problems are not as serious as at Ledyard Center, both the middle and Gallup Hill schools have significant issues.

Built in 1971, the middle school reflects the brief time when the "open concept school" was the educational trend. A revolt against the traditionally defined classroom space, it clustered together learning spaces to encourage interaction among students and breaking down barriers to freedom and creativity. Students suffered, however, from a lack of structure and supervision and academia judged it a failed experiment.

At the middle school, "walls" of filing cabinets and partitions divide the once open learning spaces. It is at best a make-do educational environment. The set-up creates learning, security and emergency escape problems. Many of these makeshift classrooms are cordoned off, with no exterior windows.

Additionally, the gym, auditorium and kitchen facilities are inadequate. There is a lack of storage space, with a blocked-off corridor serving that function.

Dating to 1965, the Gallup Hill School has its own security issues, as well as an outdated electrical system and a lack of infrastructure to accommodate computers, to name a couple of shortcomings.

If the bond issue is approved, both schools will benefit from improved access for children and visitors with disabilities, better use of ambient light, more efficient energy use, the ability to lock off public space from classroom areas and modern, full-sized cafeteria and gym facilities.

Voter rejection would be a mistake because a significant investment, as much as $20 million, will still be necessary to keep these three schools functional. This work, including electrical upgrades, roof replacements, plumbing and septic repair and compliance with disability laws, would not gain the state aid that the renovate-as-new approach will attract.

The Tuesday referendum asks voters to approve $65,835,000 for the project, but a state reimbursement of 62.5 percent will lower Ledyard's share to about $24.1 million. Given a town tax base largely dependent on residential homes, it will call for sacrifice from homeowners. A $225,000 home, with an assessed value of $157,500, will see a peak tax increase of $326 in 2019-2020, gradually declining thereafter over the life of the 20-year loan.

However, rejecting the referendum will not avoid a tax increase, because as noted, the schools will still need work.

The Day urges a yes vote in Tuesday's referendum in Ledyard.