Last week the new nominees for the Butler Area School Board, along with a couple of current members, held a town-hall meeting in Clearfield Township.

The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the future of the now closed Clearfield Elementary School. There was no advertising — word of the meeting was spread just by neighbor contacting neighbor.

More than 50 people attended, including township officials. The gathering grew so big, we had to move it from the meeting room out into the township garage.

We nominees for the board introduced ourselves and talked briefly about our vision for the future, about our ideas to help make the Butler area thrive. Then we opened the floor to anybody who had anything to say.

For the next 90 minutes, people of all ages asked questions and gave their own opinions on what should happen in the region and what should happen to Clearfield Elementary.

At one point the room broke out with applause as they thanked us for showing enough respect to come out and hear what they had to say. They were happy that we were willing to let them ask unscripted questions and have a back and forth conversation.

The people of Clearfield Township are worried and hopeful at the same time. They worry that the current school board, in its attempt to sell the school quickly through a sealed bid, will not choose the right buyer for their community. They hope that a final decision on the sale will not be made until the new board is seated Dec. 1. They hope the new board will be mindful of their children and their township, all the way out there on the far east side of the district.

This is how the new school board will operate: Of the people, for the people, by the people.