Sampson County Schools has welcomed a new school board member to its midst and, in just shy of a week, Clinton will swear in three first-timers to its board. All four have very unique opportunities to make a difference for the children within their systems if they stay true to their convictions, stayed focused on the education of young people and keep an open mind to the possibilities that exist.

The four — Dewain Sinclair in Sampson County and Randy Barefoot, Carol Worley and Georgina Zeng in Clinton City — come to their respective board tables as parents and community members who have volunteered in the schools, helped young people through recreational activities and chaperoned them on field trips.

We hope they also come to the table treading lightly, listening carefully and acting slowly and with great thought preceding their decisions. For with election comes responsibility, particularly to the thousands of young people they are charged with ensuring opportunities for educational success.

Since they have all been in and around schools for many years, all four likely understand some of what must go on in order to educate children. In other words, they understand the plight of educators, recognize the needs that exists in schools; comprehend the priority placed on testing and likely have heard the good and bad points of being educators.

While all of that is a good foundation to begin their new tasks as leaders of each school system, we urge all four to expend as much energy for the thousands of students in their respective school systems as they do for the educators charged with teaching them.

We are great supporters of education, just as we are great supporters of teachers and all those who make a lasting impression on our children, like bus drivers, cafeteria workers and maintenance staffs. But we don’t support them at the expense of the children they serve. We support them equally, though often in different ways. And that is what we are encouraging our new board members to do as they begin their tenure as leaders of the very important boards of education.

Our advice is really quite simple, though vitally important — keep children at the forefront of all decisions, giving them first priority as they look at how money will be spent, programs are prioritized and polices are developed.

And, as important as it is to ensure the very best hiring practices are maintained, with an emphasis on equality among employees, it should not ever supersede the desire to ensure that every child, no matter their race, their religion, their socio-economic status or even their test scores has every opportunity at a quality education and access to quality teachers.

We also strongly recommend new members stay away from personal agendas. While we don’t believe any of them will come to the table with such preconceived ideas, we urge them to maintain that standard of thinking as they are drawn into decisions that could have an impact on them or those close to them.

Too often, on school boards and other governing entities, personal agendas get in the way of true progress and shift the focus away from those things which are supposed to be most important.

In dealing with children, the focus should never shift.

There will be many challenges over the next few months for both boards of education. We believe these new board members can help their colleagues and the school system through them.

We welcome all four as new school leaders; we applaud their willingness to serve; and we advise them to follow the proper path, knowing that parents, the community and this newspaper will be watching to make sure what we believe can happen will.