The district has put together four options ranging from opening the facility as planned with six grade levels (kindergarten through fifth grade) to shifting only two grades there until enrollment increases. The community forums will be held Monday, Oct. 27, and Tuesday, Oct. 28, at Wright City Elementary beginning at 6:30 p.m. Superintendent Chris Gaines, in his first year with the district, said there was an expectation for 100 new homes to have been built by now in the surrounding subdivision of the new school. Due to the stalled housing market and unstable economy, the lots have remained undedeveloped. Gaines wants patrons to provide feedback on how to use the school until enrollment increases. "The community made the decision to build this school," he said. "The realities changed. I think the board needs community feedback in how to open the school in the current reality. I think it's not one person's decision. We need feedback from everybody. This is an opportunity for that." Austin Jones, R-II school board president, reiterated the need for community members to get involved in the decision-making process. "It's an opportunity for the patrons to tell us what they feel is the best option for the new school given the current economic conditions," he said. During last week's board meeting, the majority of the board members said they were leaning toward the option of initially using the school to house kindergarten and first-grade students. The shift of the younger students to the east side of the district would help alleviate overcrowding at the current elementary school and allow for fifth-grade students to be moved there, school officials said. Two options board members looked at but did not support could result in the redrawing of school boundaries. Opening the school at capacity would require a boundary line to Highway J and a good portion of the district south of Highway M. Another option under consideration is opening the facility at less than capacity which would require a boundary at Stringtown Road and down the east side of Highways M and O. If the district followed that plan, Gaines said 155 kids would be moved to the new school. The new school is expected to house 220-230 students. "I don't like the idea of redrawing boundaries," Jones said. Board member Mary Groeper is concerned about longer bus trips to the east side of the district for the two youngest grade levels. Another board member, Gina Allen, voiced her concerns about not filling the new school as orignally designed. "The plan is still there," Gaines followed. "The time line for the plan has changed." Another concern for the district according to Gaines is the possibility of shifting teachers to the new school who weren't expecting it and how families would deal with having children at different schools farther away compared to the current set up where the schools are within city limits.