Newtown weighs fate of Conn. school where 26 died

By The AP
Sunday, January 13, 2013

NEWTOWN, Conn. — Talk about Sandy Hook Elementary School is turning from last month’s massacre to the future, with differing opinions on whether students and staff should ever return to the building where a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators.

Some Newtown residents say the school should be demolished and a memorial built on the property in honor of the victims killed Dec. 14. Others believe the school should be renovated and the areas where the killings occurred removed, like Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., after the 1999 mass shooting.

Those appear to be the two prevailing proposals as the community prepares for public hearings on the school’s fate this afternoon and Jan. 18 at Newtown High School.

Town officials also are planning private meetings with the victims’ families to get their input.