POLAND — Poland Select Board Chairperson Stephen Robinson said he will ask the Regional School Unit 16 directors to form a “directors-only subcommittee” to look into why students are not attending classes regularly and why enrollment has dropped in the district.

Robinson said this is a personal request of his because he has heard from “many members of the public,” and said he plans to attend the next school board meeting, scheduled for Oct. 7.

He made his intention known toward the end of the Sept. 17 Select Board meeting, when board members are offered the opportunity to speak on matters not on the agenda. (A video of the meeting is available on the town’s website at polandtownoffice.org.)

The subcommittee should be a directors-only panel, Robinson said, “because I want the directors to get the information firsthand” from people directly involved as to why students are not attending class. He did not provide figures on class attendance or enrollment in the district.

Robinson said he wants administrators or principals to be only indirectly involved with this subcommittee, providing information only as needed.

“The board of directors needs to be hearing it, doing it and maybe potentially taking actions in providing directions to the superintendent’s office,” he said.

According to Robinson, the board lacks “awareness and consciousness” of the situation.

He said he has observed little interaction or discussion among the district’s directors at their meetings, deferring to the administration. He called it a “railroad approach … narrow focus, closed blinders.”

The directors shouldn’t take information from the administration as gospel, Robinson said. They should “step forward and accept the reality of we need to dig further and not drink the Kool-Aid.”

RSU 16 administration and board members were made aware of Robinson’s remarks last week. Superintendent Amy Heidger on Monday declined to comment at this time.