MARK MILLER had a tough message to deliver Monday night to the Buckeye Local Board of Education…to the tune of $1.3 million.

The district superintendent brought board members up to speed on the current financial plight facing the sprawling school system. The district is already immersed in financial challenges.

Miller informed the board that Buckeye Local will lose an additional $1.3 million over the next two years. That is a bitter pill to swallow for a district which has seen repeated levy attempts get shot down.

Moreover, to make ends meet this year, two schools had to be closed. The closings were not something the board and superintendent relished, but the moves kept the district out of red ink.

Now the question is, what does the board of education do to make up for that loss of funding?

We agree with the approach Miller voiced to board members Monday. He said that closing buildings and cutting personnel is not always the right answer.

Miller is correct.

How many more school buildings can Buckeye Local close without jeopardizing their academic stature? That is also true about laying off quality teachers and staff members.

There is only so much meat on the bone. Buckeye Local officials had to carve up much of it to right the ship this year.

Additional revenue is what is needed to pump budgetary well-being into the district. Additional cuts of major proportion would do more harm than good.

District residents need to take a good hard look of what Buckeye Local schools mean to them. We believe Buckeye is a quality school district, one that residents need to support.

With that being the case, an operating levy might be the perfect, albeit somewhat painful, tonic.