After a four-hour work session, the Rapid City School District plans to ease Central crowding and address other district concerns are still unclear.

Last Saturday, school board members sat around a table and focused on the district's 10-year facility plan. Putting a successful plan in place will mean future generations won't be subject to the same conditions current students face.

It wasn't lack of conversation but lack of a clear vision that seemed to hang over the discussion. Board members found grounds to disagree about the fine points of managing the student population at Central, but finally came to no conclusions.

And the grand vision - fixing Central - seems to have gotten lost in the minutia. The community is waiting for an answer on the issue of Central overcrowding. It's long overdue.

To be fair, board members are moving forward on the MGT facilities study which was completed two years ago: They are redrawing boundary lines, working on Central overcrowding and balancing enrollments at the middle schools.

But on Saturday, when administrators presented an alternative to the $42 million Central plan - a $28 million plan - board members didn't seem to find the focus or cohesiveness needed to get the job done.

It's a difficult issue and one that the community is watching closely. While that pressure is sure to shape board actions, we also suspect the recent election and appointment of new board president has shifted power at such a crucial time - midway through Central planning - that it has jeopardized some momentum that had already been carrying the Central issue.

But board members need to find common ground to disagree and still move forward with the larger vision in mind. The school district leaders need to lead and come up with concrete solutions everyone might not happen to agree on.

Board president Wes Storm has promised the next meeting, Sept. 3, would be ripe with decisions and action on several Central issues.

"We'll decide on the majority of it that night, whether we stay until midnight," Storm told board members last week.

It seems there's a growing frustration with the board and the public. And it's understandable - how many more generations of Rapid City students should have to deal with the crowded state of education in Rapid City?

The answer should be "none."

We hope the board members agree and start finalizing plans.