Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The storm of the past week has broached a long-standing tradition in Gloucester County regarding the development of the county and school system’s capital needs for the long term. With the loss of Page Middle School literally as a school (it should not be restored), the taxpayers have some very hard decisions to come up with by September of this year, the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.

With a continued declining school population, the ability to merge the sixth grade within the existing elementary schools may be an option. The need to build a new elementary/middle school camps to the east or north of the Court House may be another option. The 2010 Census has provided the government the knowledge that the population is by already approved development tracks moving to the above directions.

At the same time, as revenue is becoming harder to come by with the lack of business and building, the government now needs to combine like departments a...