I strongly believe that the students of our school district will be the winners of last week's voters' decisions. It seems to me that a major ingredient in the expansion plan was missing and may have played a role subliminally in the voters' decision.

The missing part was the time line. To attempt major construction of alterations and additions on four of the in-use school sites (to the tune of $87.6 million) in a two-year period is wishful thinking. It would be difficult to get enough temporary classrooms on deck to permit the education process to continue while construction occurs.

The BOE now has a clear mandate to develop an expansion and remodeling plan over a reasonable period of time. More thoughtful timing might also allow for verification of the projected school population. There must be architectural solutions, different from the proposed schemes, which would facilitate the expansion and reduce the degree of disruption.

There was evidence of real cooperative effort by most of the old BOE members at the last BOE meeting on May 23. That was very encouraging. I hope that spirit will develop further as the new BOE members become active.

Democracy has its anxious moments - but think of the alternative!

Eric J. Pick