Should the doors of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. ever be reopened for class? Or is the painful memory of the brutal shooting that happened inside its walls to much to bear? That is the challenging issue facing the small town after 20 children and six adults died inside the building on Dec.14.
There have been community forums in Newtown to address the question of whether the tragic shooting has tainted the town's elementary school forever. And there are contrasting opinions on each side of the argument, according to nearby Brookfield, Conn.'s site on Patch.com.
"I know your kids want to go back," resident Todd Keeping said while addressing the audience at the second community forum to discuss the future of the school. "But they want to go back to Sandy Hook School. They don't want to go back to that building."
Keeping also said that he did not think it was fair to ask Sandy Hook faculty to return to the school either.
"You want to keep these teachers? Then you cannot ask any one of them to ever, ever go back there."
Residents at the meeting also wanted to know how the ultimate decision would be made.
"I think we're going to hear everyone's perspective, put it all together and let the government process work," Newtown First Selectwoman Pat Llodra said to attendees. "That's the role of the government people to decide, okay, how do we make this final decision? It might be that consensus emerges."
Many residents were concerned about redistricting and prepared speeches for the second of two meetings regarding the future of the school. But Patch.com reports that Llodra and Board of Education chair Debbie Leidlein said they are committed to keeping "Sandy Hook families together."
The question of where to relocate, if that were the chosen plan, is another difficult situation for Newtown, but politicians are pledging to assist in various ways.
U.S. Representative Elizabeth Esty told citizens at the forum that Vice President Joe Biden promised to help the Sandy Hook community.
"I don't know how we're gonna do it, but we'll do it," Esty said. "You decide what you need. Our jobs is...to make it happen as quickly as possible."
Council member and Sandy Hook faculty member Mary Ann Jacob witnessed the shooting and did not offer a specific opinion on what should be done with the school.
"We need to remember who we are as a community when we make this choice. And stay together. Remember, it's not about us. It's about our kids," she said.
(Source: Brookfield Patch)