Concordia Parish School Board members have a serious decision to make today; it’s a decision that will affect the parish’s future for generations.

At today’s meeting board members are expected to decide whether or not to renew the contract of school Superintendent Dr. Kerry Laster.

Many of the school board members won’t say publicly which way they’re leaning on renewing Laster’s contract.

But while they may be mum in public, lots of community members have not been so quiet.

In fact, Laster’s performance has been called into question by a number of critics in recent months.

While some of the critics are big on talk, most are short on specifics. Ask them to provide tangible reasons why they feel the district needs a new leader and they seem to struggle.

When leadership changes need to be made, the reasons should be clear cut and easy to articulate to others.

School board members should stand independent of political bickering or personal power struggles.

If board members feel change is needed, that’s fine, but let’s stick to facts.

All of the “issues” from the ongoing bickering about school bus management to the continuing struggles of the Ferriday schools can be boiled down to one, simple question:

Is the district better off today after having Laster at the helm for four years?

We think the answer to that is, yes. And we hope each board member will search his heart for his own answer to that question and then be prepared to communicate that answer to the public.