Tuesday marks the final public input session organized by the Selma City School Board, to hear from citizens about the proposed plan to shutter three schools; Byrd Elementary, School of Discovery and Phoenix School.

Over the past few weeks, the board has held multiple meetings with the same message being delivered to the board members.

Those messages are either, “save Byrd School” or “don’t talk about Knox Elementary.”

The division created between the two school support bases is understandable and expected. We would have probably thought less if the two parent-teacher associations, faculty and staff didn’t do all they could to either save or defend the school they hold dear.

Despite what comes from the public input sessions, if the words spoken are able to sway the decision of school board members, one fact remains: savings must be found and found quickly.

The economic foundation our public school system is built upon is flawed to begin with; add to that a sluggish economy and you have a perfect storm that leads to program cuts, school closures, larger classrooms and — in some cases — diminishing results.

Following the public input session a recommendation may very well be made to the school board members they approve the closure of Byrd, School of Discovery and Phoenix School.

Although we have disagreed with the schools selected — and disagreed strongly — the core decision of saving money may very well trump any emotional connection to a school, or logical thinking on which schools to close.