West Clermont Local School District will be holding several community listening sessions in the coming weeks to provide an opportunity for residents to share their concerns about the district with board members.

“The board has put this out there as an opportunity for the public to give feedback to the board about the direction of the district,” Superintendent Dr. Gary Brooks said.

Brooks said the district set up several meeting locations and times to try to accommodate as many residents as possible who may want to attend.

The first session will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 30 at Union Township Library, the second will be held at 10:30 a.m. May 2 at the library, and the third will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 2 at Amelia High School in the multi-purpose room.

“Our board is genuinely interested in what people have to say,” Brooks said. “And we hope we get a variety of people.”

Brooks said topics of discussion at the sessions will include issues the district faces, results of a community survey completed in the district, and suggestions from to residents as to what the district should focus on moving forward.

He said all five board members will be present at the sessions along with a facilitator from the Ohio School Boards Association

“It is a direct access to all five board members,” Brooks said. “So if (residents) have ideas to make the school system a better system, to be more cost efficient or bring about a better result, bring those issues forward to the board for consideration.”

West Clermont Local School District has made millions of dollars in cuts in the last three years and was forced to cut back to state minimums in many areas in the district this school year including transportation, class offerings and more.

“The district certainly has some financial issues,” Brooks said. “The board will have to determine in the future how they will solve those issues.”

Brooks said board members are seeking feedback from residents at the sessions to help them determine what is essential for the school system moving forward.

“They will take feedback from their staff and these community meetings into a work session and determine how they will proceed,” Brooks said.

So far, attempts to ease the district’s ongoing financial issues by creating additional revenue have been unsuccessful.

The district has attempted multiple times to pass levies, including the November 2011 general election where the levy failed with 60 percent of voters against the levy.

Brooks said the board has not decided whether or not it will include a levy on this year’s ballot.

“Certainly a levy is a way for the district to gain additional resources,” Brooks said. “In light of the economy and the tax situation, (the board is) really reaching out to other options.”

Brooks encouraged all residents in the district, not just parents of students, to attend one of the sessions to help communicate their concerns and ideas to all five board members.

“We’re trying to get input from those who are not involved with the school system because their opinion is certainly important,” Brooks said. “The board will be there to listen.”

To plan for attendance, administrators have asked residents to RSVP for the listening sessions online at http://bit.ly/RSVP-WC-Listening.