The Clements Theme School, a parental involvement focused school for middle school grades, was created last year with great expectations from parents, the board of education and the community. This week the Newton County Board of Education voted to discontinue that experiment because of the costs involved in keeping open a school serving half its capacity.

We agree that this was the right thing to do at this time and we applaud the board for their humbleness and courage.

This school was set up to make parents an active part of their children's education. Therefore, parents signed contracts to ensure accountability. After a great deal of the parents signed their contracts, which spelled out their responsibilities, they did not keep their end of the bargain. If parents did not abide school policies, their children were removed from the school roster and sent back to their home school.

Parental involvement was needed to make this theme school concept a success - perhaps if 100 percent of the parents did what they promised to do by signing the contract, Clements could have been a model for other districts.

We wish the best for Fairview Elementary Theme School. However, parents should remember the phrase "it takes two to tango" when sending their child to any school.