THE JUDICIAL system has spoken — Beallsville High School will remain open for at least one more academic year. That decree was issued Thursday by a Monroe County judge.

The ruling came hours before another Switzerland of Ohio Board of Education meeting was scheduled. That session was expected to yield another — and hopefully — final vote on the school’s fate.

In March, the board voted 3-2 to close Beallsville High School. Since that vote, one board member claimed to not have all the pertinent information she needed at the time of her vote for closure.

Subsequent meetings were scheduled and held, but never resulting in a vote of the issue. Thursday’s meeting was expected to be just that.

The judge’s ruling made such a session moot. The judge ordered the school to remain open. The ruling yielded much joy and relief to the Blue Devil Nation.

But questions remain.

How viable will Beallsville High School be for the coming year?

Since that March vote to close the school, many Beallsville students have opted to make plans to attend neighboring schools, with Barnesville reportedly attracting more than 40 potential Blue Devil transfers and several more to Union Local.

Moreover, fall sports for Beallsville athletes– and most likely those in the winter as well — have been jeopardized or eliminated as former prep opponents have completed their schedules without the Blue Devils on them.

Prep sports — and the accompanying pageantry — are a big part of the high school career.

Beallsville is a proud and compassionate community. It embraces its high school like few others.

A judge’s decree has given Beallsville High School a reprieve from extinction.

It is now up to the passionate Blue Devil Nation to breathe life into the school.