Lots of talking — and more than a little fussing — occurred Monday during a joint work session of the city, county and Natchez-Adams School District’s governing boards.

The meeting was long overdue and several things that needed to be said were finally aired publicly.

Many people close to the district have been upset for weeks over rapid personnel changes that have occurred in the school district.

Dozens of teachers and administrators have left the district, enough to fairly call the situation a “shake-up” in our minds.

Unfortunately, by the very private nature of personnel matters, little explanation came with the changes. Thus public sentiment fills the void with rumor, innuendo and speculation, a trio that rarely results in much good.

If a teacher or administrator who was let go feels they were dismissed unfairly, they should appeal to the school board.

But as school board member Benny Wright said Monday, the matter isn’t about the adults who lost their jobs, but the children who need to be educated.

“We cannot employ everybody who has been here for 10 years; we have been a failing district for 10 years,” he said. “I am not committed to hiring our friends and neighbors. I am committed to educating our children.”

Wright is correct. The school district’s job is to educate our community’s children, in the best possible way imaginable.

If a change in personnel is necessary, so be it, however, a little more explanation on the front end — even if only explained with broad brush strokes — would have prevented much of the emotional strife and gotten the community to a resolution much faster.