The Newton County School Board has done what had to be done and cut more than $9 million dollars from its budget.

Cuts will affect almost every department across the board. The cuts are not what those of us who care for the education of our children necessarily want, but by having the courage to make them, the school board sent a strong message to the community that they were willing and able to do the right thing fiscally for our financially-strapped community.

This might not be the end to the cuts, though, because the board may have to find another $2 million in cuts in the next few months.

We have been impressed during the budgeting process with Superintendent Gary Mathews and his staff. He promised the community in his first few days in office that he would be transparent when dealing with schools and the revenue needed to run them, and he has kept his word.

Yes, our education system has taken a severe financial blow, but that is no different than what every successful business in our county has taken over the last three years.

Most of those businesses have gotten up off the ground, brushed themselves off and made the changes and adjustments needed to survive and begin growing again.

We have no doubt that under the direction of Mathews and his staff and teachers that our school system will adjust to these changes and grow and prosper. The character lessons engendered in coping with these fiscal hardships will help Newton County schools become one of the elite systems in the state.