A bare quorum of Chilmark voters agreed without dissent this week to borrow another $200,000 to pay for a mounting list of problems in the physical plant at the Chilmark School.

"We are a little embarrassed but we are trying to put our best foot forward and fix the problems," said selectman Frank Fenner at a special town meeting held Wednesday night in the Chilmark Community Center.

The meeting saw a light turnout - about 40 voters attended. In Chilmark, 25 makes a quorum. Town moderator Everett Poole presided.

The money request was the sole article on the warrant.

School costs are driving budget increases across the Island, but in Chilmark, one expense forcing voters to dig into their wallets for education spending may come as a shock.

The Menemsha School, barely four years old, already needs $100,000 in repairs that include replacing moldy floors and rotten doors. Voters will be asked Monday night at annual town meeting to foot the bill. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Chilmark Community Center.

The annual town election takes place Wednesday and will feature five override questions, but no contested races.

Designs for the new Menemsha School met with considerable support and some opposition this week at the Chilmark selectmen's meeting.

Charles Rose of Thompson and Rose Architects presented the designs for the new school to the selectmen for the first time Tuesday evening. The designs are ones selected by the Chilmark school building committee last week based on four schemes Mr. Rose presented to them.

The Menemsha School still has a great old-fashioned school bell, sounded daily by a rope that dangles down from the roof.

Children of different grades still sit in class side by side and play together in a playground bordered by a foresty area they call "twiggyland." Many townspeople were educated here, in the same place as their parents and grandparents.

Today, the challenge to Chilmark is maintaining the special qualities of this rural school while making room for growth.