DALTON -- Facing a choice of litigation or finding funds for an extensive repair project, the Leyton Board of Education approved finding an expert witness to examine the track.

The Board held a special meeting Monday including legal counsel Justin Knight, attending the meeting via Zoom, to discuss the track. Knight offered a "10,000 foot overview" of the track, including how the school district got to where it is. He said with a lawsuit in progress, attorney-client communications need to be conducted in closed session.

"This is a track project that was constructed years ago. We filed our complaint in March of 2024. So, we're 16 months in. The unfortunate reality I guess you could call it of litigation is it just takes forever. There's a lot of hurrying up and waiting. So, we got everybody served when the board voted to move forward with actually serving the defendants," he said.

Knight said the general contractor, architect, and track designer were served. 

"Between probably October and March, maybe even April, I think Mr. McLaughlin and I, we spent quite a bit of time going through documents and finding what was there and answering interrogatory, so that sort of set the stage for a lot of things. Documents can tell us one thing, but in terms of actually hearing something from somebody involved, that's a whole different level," he said.

The special board meeting was held to encourage the community to give input on how the board should move forward. Knight said at this point there isn't a guaranteed outcome. 

Superintendent Matt McLaughlin said concerns about the track started in his first days with the District. 

"Nobody wants to see the track go to waste. That's crazy. It is a beautiful thing. The whole facility is. We're not going to let it go to waste," said board member Shad Benish.

The board convened into closed session, returning with board member Suzy Ernest proposing the board find an expert witness to examine the track. The proposal was accepted unanimously.