Public should be heard on alternatives to school plan

To the Editor: I want to thank the board of education for coming up with an alternate plan for facility improvements, since the building of a new high school was stalled due to a lack of a proper location. However, I cannot understand why all six plans were not given a public hearing before the board voted on the current plan. After all this community has been through in the last two years, full disclosure of all options would have gone a long way to restoring some of the good will lost during that period. It is the superintendent’s obligation to recommend a plan, after consultation with his professional staff, and the board of education has the final say over which plan is approved. It is the citizens of Sparta, however, who are being asked to pay for this improvement. A meeting or two to examine the six plans and explain to the public why one plan is better than the other five is not asking too much when we are being asked to pay the $73 million price tag. Once again the school system feels a need to limit information disseminated to the community regarding a major commitment of tax dollars. How can any reasonable person make a commitment to this building project without knowing the other options available? I ask the board of education to make these plans available at the next few board meetings, at the board office and the Sparta Public Library so the public can review them. The time is now to discuss openly the options and make the commitment needed to solve our facility problems. It is the voters, in the end, who will make the final decision! Michael Schill, Jr. Sparta