Tribune editorial staff

Kudos to the Lawrence County Educational Services Center board. The county board helped the Rock Hill School District start the new school year on the best possible foot despite having to tread the slippery slopes of politics in and around the district.

Somehow, amazingly, the district seems to be operating fairly smoothly, in spite of dueling lawyers, allegations, feuding Rock Hill board members and enough rancid attitude and opinion on both sides to fill up the district's football stadium.

In case you've missed the constant debate, the current Rock Hill School Board and long-time superintendent Lloyd Evans are waged in a court battle over Evans' future. The board contends that Evans no longer has a contract with the district and has asked him to leave. Evans, on the other hand, vows his contract - extended by the former board - is valid. The issue has yet to be decided in court. After realizing that to appoint the countywide district superintendent, as interim Rock Hill superintendent would require giving administrative duties temporarily to the county board, that's exactly what the Rock Hill Board did.

So for the past several weeks, the county superintendent and the county board have been managing the day-to-day operations of the district.

Teachers, administrators and parents agree that things have gone very smoothly since school started.

Which goes to show what we've suspected all along: The students and teachers of the Rock Hill district are top-notch. Leave them alone and they'll do what they do best. The teachers will teach and the students will learn. It's a pretty simple concept, but one that works well.

Problems only seem to arise when the adults and their politics get involved. Bickering, name-calling, accusation throwing and an all around tense mood comes over the place when the Rock Hill board and superintendent clash.

Although we know it is not practical, wouldn't it be nice if the county board could just run the district forever?

Remove the politics and things get clearer - it's all about educating children, not making adults happy.