For Butler School District, 2015 will be remembered as the summer of endless logistics.

That became increasingly apparent last week during a public hearing to discuss details of the pending schools consolidation taking place before the start of the 2015-16 academic year — less than seven months away.

The cash-strapped district projects a savings of $3.5 million a year through consolidation.

Danielle Penrod, an Oakland Township resident and a mother of three, spoke for many parents at the Wednesday night hearing when she shared some of her 8-year-old daughter's concerns:

• Why is my school closing?

• Will I see my friends at my new school?

• Where are the bathrooms?

• Where will I eat lunch?

Indeed, these are the most perfunctory of countless logistical details that need to be worked out before Labor Day, when the proposed consolidation plan to close five elementary schools and reconfigure grades for the rest takes effect.

Also part of the reconfiguration: the remaining K-6 elementary schools will become K-4; fifth and sixth grades will move to the current junior high school; seventh, eighth and ninth graders will attend the intermediate high school; and grades 9-12 will be in the senior high building.

The reconfiguration will entail much more than a mere swapping of classrooms. School libraries will be moved. Teachers will relocate their classrooms. Custodial and cafeteria staff will be reassigned. Bus routes will be altered. Directories will need to be edited. Signs will be redone. Security routines will be studied and modified. The district's website will be overhauled.

From the outset, few people have disagreed with the notion that declining enrollment makes the closing of some school buildings a necessity. The district's enrollment peaked 40 years ago at about 12,700 students; since then it has steadily declined to about 7,100 students today. And while more than 70 teaching positions and six administrative positions have been eliminated over the past decade, the property tax rate has increased by 25.67 mills over roughly the same decade to its current rate of 94.8 mills.

The debate has centered on which schools to close, and how to align the grade structure. Many continue to support a K-6 model, even after the school board last month voted 6-3 for the option that would close Broad Street, Center Avenue, Clearfield, Meridian and Oakland elementary schools while converting the others to K-4.

As they work through the myriad of details related to the consolidation, it would be prudent for school board members to remain sensitive to the concerns of the K-6 proponents and all others who worry about the plan. It is essential that information continues to flow from the district to the community, and vice versa, throughout the process. Good communication might not foster agreement, but an informed community will stick to the facts surrounding the consolidation and refrain from pursuing rumor and innuendo.

It's particularly important for the district to share information if the board continues on its current pace, and as some say the changes are being made too hastily. A final vote on the consolidation plan could come as soon as May.

A stenographer transcribed Wednesday's hearing and a transcript will be submitted to the state Department of Education. The same transcript should be posted online to make it available for public review.

The community must coalesce around the consolidation plan. Success will depend on a sense of community ownership — this is our school district. For that to happen, the school board and administration must make every effort to foster and maintain a sense of transparency throughout the process.

Transparency should be a primary and overriding objective as the summer of endless logistics draws near.