It’s wonderful that about 30 people already have volunteered to serve on the task force that will look at elementary school facilities in the Lawrence district. It shows a real interest in our community’s youngsters and their educational future.

However, putting together a task force to tackle this job requires more than taking the first 20 or 25 people who hold up their hands.

The school board document creating the task force says it should be “limited to approximately 25” members two of whom are co-chairs appointed by Board President Scott Morgan. The other members will be appointed by Superintendent Rick Doll and should represent the “diversity of people and values of the school district.”

First, 25 isn’t much of a limit. Even if the group breaks into work groups to attack different topics, 25 is too big. A few members will end up doing most of the work anyway.

Seeking to represent the district’s diversity is a good goal, but there will be different opinions on how to accomplish that. Members of Save Our Neighborhood Schools, for instance, have suggested that 29 different stakeholder groups, including all of the city’s elementary schools, should each appoint one member to the task force. Such a system wouldn’t guarantee diversity and would bring together people who feel responsible to the groups that appointed them, perhaps making it more difficult for them to take a broader view or reach compromises.

Selection of the co-chairs is key. Morgan needs to recruit co-chairs who understand Lawrence and are well-known in the community. Having some connections to the schools — a former board member, perhaps — would be a plus, but the main requirement is someone who will take a broad view of what’s best for everyone in the community — everyone from preschoolers to the retirees who help pay the bills.

The rest of the task force also should represent a wide spectrum of the community, not just people who currently have children in elementary school. Everyone in Lawrence is a “stakeholder” in the local school district. In all likelihood, the board and superintendent will need to recruit some people to serve rather than just select from among the volunteers. Doll has been in this community for less than a year and doesn’t know all the players; school board members should help him find the right people and the right mix of people to make the task force work.

If board members want a task force that will make meaningful recommendations, they need to appoint members who can look at hard facts while not losing sight of the impact their decisions will have on Lawrence youngsters.

It won’t be an easy job but it’s an important job for Lawrence and its children. We need to find a committed group of community-minded people to take it on.