Ironton residents stand at a historic crossroads, facing three distinct paths for the future of the city's educational system, which is the heart of any thriving city.

Down one path, residents can choose to simply select to sit on their hands and take no action. Doing nothing forfeits the millions of dollars available in state funding to build new schools or remodel existing schools.

The further residents go down that path, the more narrow the path becomes and the more rocky the road. The city's schools will continue to deteriorate.

Providing quality education for our children becomes more and more difficult. And attracting new people who want to live in the city grows increasingly difficult.

Alongside the first path is another path, a path of disharmony which shows what occurs if people continue to disagree on what to do, on which path the community should take.

As people dig in on their existing opinions, refusing to keep an open mind, the second path just winds and twists along. Although at first this path seems to be getting somewhere, it eventually turns and twists until it winds up merging with the first narrowing path.

The third path is, as the poet Robert Frost wrote, the one less traveled. That path is the path of communication and compromise. The reason why that road is less used is that it is much easier to hold our ground and keep our minds made up than to consider other options and discuss other perspectives. It's much safer, too.

The third path is certainly the correct path for the children, for the community and for our history.

Taking advantage of opportunity - massive matching funds from the state - just makes sense for the community. A local tax levy is required in order to free up the state money.

Getting enough people to walk that third path will require a good bit of compromise.

The recent election in which a school bond was defeated illustrates the community's division on the subject. An important step in bringing those sides together will be taken this week. On Thursday, the Ironton School Board will meet with community members in an effort to discuss the options and the possible concerns residents may have over the issue.

Everyone is welcome to the meeting, which will be at 6 p.m. inside the Ironton High School auditorium. All interested people are encouraged to attend.

The key to making Thursday's meeting a success will be if all sides can focus on taking the third path. Doing so will require an open mind and a willingness to hear all sides and discuss all the options, civilly.

We believe firmly that Ironton can build a bright future without completely turning its back on the past. And we believe the answer to how we do that will come through communication with its residents and that begins on Thursday night.

But doing so is only possible if everyone works together, building on the issues we can agree upon.