Yet, school boards hold the students hostage, hoping those who give the funds will shed a tear at the plight of students in one of the poorest counties in state — Halifax County.

We saw this Thursday night as the Weldon school board asked the county commissioners for $1.3 million so an architect can design a new high school. Because the county doesn’t have the money, there will be mediation sessions and a possible court battle over this money.

We believe we will see this again after the Halifax County Board of Education made what we feel is an ill-advised decision to reopen Brawley and Eastman middle schools Tuesday night.

Although we don’t have exact figures, we have been told privately it will take at least $1 million, if not more, to get the schools in shape for a January opening and we believe they will come to the county to ask for that money.

By playing the kid card — telling us the obvious, things like the children are our future — you are really hurting the children, using them as a bargaining chip that could possibly lead to a court case so an architect can design a possibly $30 million high school to replace one for 288 students.

If the county school board comes to the county for money to reopen two schools whose student populations have dwindled beyond the point the former school board believed it was time to close them, then that’s another million dollars the county will be asked to fund. That’s $2.3 million, $300,000 more than what the county took from its savings to balance this year’s budget.

It would be wonderful to go back to the days of neighborhood schools, but we don’t see that happening and we believe it is time for Weldon and the county school system to pay attention to what County Manager Tony Brown and the county’s lawyer, Neil Yarborough, said Thursday night.

While Weldon’s attorney, Rod Malone, construed their comments to mean the county is pushing consolidation, Brown and Yarborough appeared to be pushing for solutions instead of playing the kid card.

They suggested sending students elsewhere so they could get training in areas Weldon can’t or doesn’t have adequate facilities to provide. This is already being done in school transportation so why not extend it to school education?

This is how you help students, not by stating something commissioners already know — that the children are our future.

We will even say while we don’t believe the commissioners are pushing consolidation, we believe it is something that must be seriously looked at in the future, especially if the economy doesn’t turn soon.

Yes, having a school system bearing the name of your town or city is something to be proud of, but as we all know, pride can harmful, if not dangerous.

If you really want to be proud, look at alternatives like the ones suggested Thursday night to give students a complete education so they can compete. If the answer is sending students to classes elsewhere or even consolidation then swallow your pride and don’t play the kid card — we already know the children are our future — Editor.