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Page 227 December 1, 1975 decision. The School Committee does not have control over what happens to buildings when they are no longer needed for school pur- poses. We can make suggestions and should be working with other groups such as the Selectmen, Planning Board, etc. , to formulate suggestions but it should be made clear that our autonomy only goes so far. 'I believe the School Committee has been very thorough and careful in its deliberations. We have set up several committees to study the effect of closing schools and plan to request even more help from these committees. We do expect to have an interim report from the Educational Plan Study Committee in early January and have al- ready had some input from them. However, their final report will not be submitted for some time. The charge given the Educational Plan Study Committee addressed itself to much more than the issue of closing some schools and although their reports will give us necessary information regarding closing schools, I personally hope their reports will be useful in our primary goal of making ALL schools better for both teachers and students. I trust the above will clarify some misunderstandings and assure everyone that we are continuing with our original plan to study every aspect, work with the committees established to help us col- lect information, and make decisions after thorough and careful study of information from all sources." Following Mrs. Swanson's statement, Mr. Otis Brown presented the MEMBER'S following proposal: STATEMENT "First for myself, and I am sure, on behalf of other School Com- mittee members, I wish to make it clear that we shall not be in- timidated by any group of parent-citizens concerned only with their particular school district. The School Committee will, in its best judgment, act on the subject of school closings only after careful consideration has been given to all proposals. Obviously, these considerations will include possible effects on the overall quality of education in Lexington as well as the financial implications on all parents and citizens. 'Secondly, I do not believe that any prudent parent or citizen can deny the fact that reasonably accurate elementary projections through 1980 indicate a decline of some 1,200 students or 32% less than currently enrolled in K through 6. Consider the following facts: Total number of elementary schools 11 Total number of classrooms available 193 Total number of classrooms used for Spec. Ed. , Art, Reading, Aides, etc. 35 Total number used as classrooms -1975 158