So far so good! We have been impressed by new school Superintendent Dr. Gary Mathews’ approach to the management of the Newton County School System.

His recommendation to do away with the antiquated tribunal system currently used by the schools to hold disciplinary hearings on student conduct was the right thing to do.

We agree with Dr. Mathews: wasting 195 to 292 hours per year on these tribunals is a bad use of our school administrators’ time.

Mathews also said that changing the system could save $57,000. Saving that amount of money might not seem like much, but with the school board cutting millions of dollars recently, it symbolizes a step in the right direction.

The school board chose not to honor Mathews’ request completely, but did agree to cut the tribunal down to two members, which will work for now.