We hope a task force to study Lawrence elementary school facilities got off to a great start Monday night.

With 27 members, the task force is large, but it represents a broad spectrum of the community and brings considerable expertise to the table.

The charge of the task force is to “recommend a community vision and plan for the school district’s elementary facilities.” It was billed as a way to seek community input to help guide the Lawrence school board’s future decisions regarding elementary schools.

For that reason, it seems odd that School Board President Scott Morgan chose to appoint himself and incoming board president Rich Minder as co-chairs of the task force. If the board truly wanted an independent community perspective on the schools, it would have been better to take a back seat to the discussions and put a more independent community representative in charge.

One of the complaints many community members had when the board was considering possible elementary school closures earlier this year was that it appeared the board already had made up its mind and was unwilling to listen to input from the public. Having two board members as co-chairs of the task force reinforces the perception that the board wants to exert influence over the community task force’s deliberations and conclusions.

The fact that Mike Neal, Kansas University’s assistant dean of education administration, will facilitate the meetings, may help take the focus off the co-chairs and let task force members shape the agenda. Gould Evans Associates, a Lawrence architectural firm, will provide its ideas on facilities planning. The two current board members also can provide valuable input on school facilities, but they should be careful not to dominate discussions.

The point of the task force was to seek a community perspective. Although there will be a natural tendency to defer to the chairmen of the task force, the group is filled with people quite capable of asserting themselves and driving this process in a way that benefits the community as a whole. They shouldn’t hesitate to do that.

School board members have had and will continue to have plenty of opportunities to voice their opinions and perspectives about elementary facilities. The task force should be the community’s chance to step up and play a role.