Brooksville residents propose panel to study needs of elementary school

BROOKSVILLE – The town is seeking volunteers for a broad-based committee that will look at the needs of the elementary school in the wake of voter rejection of a proposed building plan earlier this year.

The idea for the committee grew out of a forum held Tuesday to discuss school needs and possible solutions. The 75 or so people who attended the forum agreed that three groups of elected officials – the selectmen, the budget and finance committee and the school committee – should each select an equal number of volunteers to sit on the committee.

Anyone willing to serve on the committee can add their name to a list of potential committee members that will be kept at the town office. An ad seeking volunteers will be run in local newspapers.

Voters at the annual town meeting in March rejected the proposed $1.8 million project by a vote of 307-188. During a wide-ranging discussion of school issues at the forum, residents agreed that part of the reason the project failed was that there was not enough representation from all areas of the town.

“There was not enough diversity among the group that was putting the project together,” said one woman, who added that there was not a universal understanding of all the issues surrounding the proposed project.

“We need to get more people involved in the planning,” she said.

That lack of involvement, one man said, resulted in a lot of bad feelings throughout town that still exist. He urged that whatever happens, the process should be slow and careful.

Discussion throughout the evening stressed that any committee looking at school needs should include residents who had voted against the proposed school project as well as those who had supported it. Several residents indicated that although they had voted against the proposal, they still recognized that there were issues at the school that needed to be addressed.

Most agreed that having the three elected groups select the committee members would ensure that all segments of the community would be represented. That process also could ensure wider support for any project that grew out of the committee’s efforts.

The committee will include between nine and 15 members. It will have an open-ended charge to look at school needs and the needs of townspeople as a whole.

Despite that vagueness, residents indicated they wanted the committee to begin work soon and urged the elected officials to appoint the committee quickly.

They indicated that they would like the committee to hold its first meeting within 30 days, although most recognized that little could be accomplished during the busy summer months.