Not too long ago, we praised the school board for their fiscally responsible actions in the previous year.

Through careful management of their funds, the school board came up with $4.4 million in savings.

In the same editorial that we praised the school board, we also encouraged the board to put the money away for future use.

But this wasn't to be. The school board, acting with all the wisdom of a young child with money burning a hole in his pocket, decided to give the money to the system employees as a temporary raise.

The raise is equal to the pay for two of the furloughed days, amounting to about $40 per paycheck for the rest of the school year per employee. Is this really worth getting rid of the surplus?

We think this a bad decision that shows a serious lack of leadership by the school board.

These are tough times, and when dealing with our taxes, the board needs to understand that a penny saved is a penny earned.