The winds of change are blowing for the recently reconstituted Warren County School District Board of Education.

The board will have a new president in newly elected member Robert Cook. The board will have a new solicitor. And, we’re sure, the winds of change may affect the recently agreed upon lease of the Youngsville Middle-High School building by Warren County.

These will be interesting times indeed. District residents have spoken loudly that they don’t approve of recent decisions the school district has made even if, we feel, they are the right decisions. The property reassessment, an effort largely led by the school district at its start, has upset many in the county. The closure of Sheffield and Youngsville high schools has led to a dramatic change in the board’s composition. The change in the board’s composition – and the new members’ desire to begin moving quickly to take the type of action they promised voters they would take – is a reflection of the discontent in parts of the county.

Fresh ideas and fresh faces aren’t a bad thing. Quite the contrary, sometimes a change of direction is a good thing. New ways of looking at old problems can bring new vitality to a board.

At the same time, we should all be wary of relitigating the past. At this point the reassessment isn’t going to be undone. The simple fact of the matter is our population cannot support four high schools and, despite all of the disagreement, the board made the right decision in closing high schools. Financial considerations were largely responsible for the choice to keep Eisenhower open rather than Youngsville. And while people can disagree with the decisions made in the past that painted that particular financial picture, the decision makes financial sense. We would have preferred a sale of Youngsville Middle-High School, but we also recognize the prior board’s desire to see something happening in the school rather than carrying an empty building for years on end.

These new board members campaigned – and won – looking at past grievances. But it’s hard to move forward if we’re constantly looking backward and trying to reverse decisions made over the past couple of years.