The elimination of 22 paychecks from the Demopolis City School System is almost too much to wrap your mind around. That’s 22 skilled friends and neighbors now without work.

And those 22 cuts are far more than what similar school systems were forced to make. As an example, 5A Hartselle City Schools eliminated five positions, none of which were teachers.

You could see this proration year coming from a mile away. You could see it two years ago. And you can see next year’s coming now.

The key to weathering an economic crunch is preparation. If you don’t squirrel your nuts away while they’re still on the ground, you won’t have much to munch on when they’re gone.

Next year is going to be another tough year. We hope this week’s moves positions our school system to move forward in 2011-12 with an eye toward 2012-13.