DANVILLE -- If some vocal residents have anything to say about it, consolidation will be back on the Danville school board's agenda soon.

Most of a standing room-only crowd at Tuesday night's directors meeting favored a consolidated elementary over a recent proposal that included converting Liberty-Valley Elementary School into an intermediate center.

"The district needs to make a decision now," said David Connuck, father of two Mahoning-Cooper Elementary School students. "This is only temporary. We need to start fixing it now instead of keeping open three energy-inefficient schools with the costs going to go up and up."

Because of increasing enrollment and no elementary project on the horizon, elementary principals proposed Liberty-Valley become an intermediate center for third- through fifth-grade students and Riverside, Mahoning-Cooper and Danville elementaries be primary centers for kindergarten through second grades.

During the nearly three-hour discussion, one mother said she'd rather pay more taxes to add five teachers and buy two modular classrooms instead of the grade realignment plan.

When board member Dawn Koons-Gill said adding teachers would cost $300,000 and the modulars would cost $80,000, one man replied that an increase in busing for grade realignment might offset that cost.

Chris Huron, who has four children at Liberty-Valley, said the board "needs to lay out clear district goals. The rhetoric has got to stop. At some place, decisions need to be made. There is passion in the audience and real families to consider. You need to map out and make the hard decisions." He received applause as did many of the speakers.

Heather Williams, mother of five, said the grade plan will disturb every child in kindergarten through fifth grade.

"Every child will be disrupted," she said. "I don't know if you can put a cost on it."

President Allan Schappert said the board could make a decision at its March 10 meeting but may not have all the information it needs by that time to make a decision.

Superintendent Susan Bickford said the district's busing plan for the realignment is probably one-quarter complete. Staggering school start times for elementary and secondary students may be an option.

"We don't want the students to travel any longer than they already are traveling," she said. "We feel we can shorten some runs."

Bickford noted that if additional buses are needed, transportation costs are reimbursed by the state.

Phil Amarante, father of Liberty-Valley students, was concered about more traffic in Riverside and that there will be more latchkey kids.

"I believe the taxpayers are willing to foot the burden for the care of the children," he said. Amarante also requested another town hall meeting before the board votes on a plan.