This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Demand a Clear Path Forward

Either my husband or I have attended the open Board of Education meetings or gone to the information meetings regarding the closing of Island Avenue School. We are current Island Avenue School parents, and we believe in the invaluable education our kids are receiving at Island. Because we are invested and informed citizens, we also went to the Oct. 17 Board of Education (BOE) meeting where we watched the board pass the motion to close the school. Obviously, the referendum and the decision to close Island Avenue have been divisive and deleterious to the fabric of our town community. Nonetheless, the board voted. The motion passed. So, now what?

A clear, responsible phase-out plan is essential for assuaging the dissension in the community and reaffirming the BOE’s notion that this decision was for the benefit of our children. We need to know what the BOE plan is for how we will proceed. Island Avenue School is full of children who love their school. It is a community apart from this larger town community, and the students and families deserve to know what the plan is.

I hope that the entire town will come together and demand that the BOE provide a clear and considerate path forward. There should be an urgency on the board’s part to explain the next step and how it will be valuable to all community members affected by the decision.

Laura Milligan

Madison