While most of us would prefer school boards of education discuss things like improving test scores, modernizing teaching tools or reducing class sizes, reality sometimes gets in the way.

Certainly it did this week in Hillman, where the board of education there dealt with an equally important topic these days — student safety.

The board considered bids for installing new security systems on its main doors. The system, for both the junior/senior high school as well as the elementary school, will allow staff to control access to the buildings. It will include an intercom and camera.

The board approved purchasing the system from Maximum Security of Gaylord, at a cost not to exceed $3,000 per door, or $6,000 total.

“I just want to thank the board for supporting this move,” Superintendent Carl Seiter told his board. “I think controlling access to the buildings is vital for school safety so the systems that we’re putting in allows us to see and talk to the individual wanting to come in and that was the main goal.”

This week’s expenditure offers a sad commentary about the world we find ourselves living in today. Our guess is board members probably would have liked to have spent that $6,000 in others ways related to education.

Today, however, that expenditure is a small price to pay for parents’ peace of mind and for the safety of everyone inside those buildings.

Indeed, it is a sign of of the times.