The Gloucester County School Board acted quickly, decisively and in the best interest of its students and the community as a whole last Wednesday in laying out plans for the coming school year in the wake of the April 16 tornado that devastated Page Middle School.

Board members were left in the unenviable position of having to make a split second decision about a fundamental issue—providing a space for students to learn. Although the fall semester is still several months away, that is short time indeed when it comes to preparing for changes involving hundreds of students, teachers, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, etc.

The decision made by the school board for the 2011-2012 school year—placing all of Gloucester’s sixth and seventh graders at Peasley Middle School, and moving all eighth graders to modular classrooms at Gloucester High School—while far from ideal, is the best that can be done on short notice.

Conditions are sure to be cramped, both at Peasl...