Look outside box
After listening to comments and concerns from school district and special education professionals Monday evening, I have a suggestion.
Instead of building new facilities for the two special education programs, why not look at some existing buildings in our communities?
Do the two programs, OASIS and CLASS, have to be in the same building?
OASIS addresses behavioral problems and CLASS is for those mentally and physically disabled students.
Every community in this county has empty buildings. Couldn't one or two of these buildings be used for these purposes?
Currently the cooperative is paying $50,000 per year to USD 408 for the facilities. That same $50,000 could purchase one or two buildings in any of our communities, including Florence.
Then funds can be concentrated on programs and staff instead of bricks and mortar.
Perhaps there are other uses for the Florence buildings. Maybe the former school building could be used as a business incubator or some other entrepreneurial venture.
The school district should maintain the gym building for special events or allow the community to use it.
I'm glad there is going to be more research into other options because spending a million or two should not be the only option.
As Clark Davis said Monday evening, "We need to look outside the box."
— SUSAN BERG
