Sweet, they ain’t.

The School Board made a brilliant if obvious decision in choosing Leslie Lockhart the other evening as permanent superintendent of the School District – until their easily wounded feelings are bruised again.

These gallants are not candidates for the Courage Hall of Fame.

Nor will they qualify for the Ethical Hall of Fame.

The School Board amateurishly bungled last June’s midnight-style firing of Supt. Josh Arnold. The act was so crudely executed it resembled an almost intentional error.

They did not want to just can him but strike him hard.

Of course they had authority to dismiss him. He was not dancing the way they wanted.

Except they did not merely dismiss.

Flaunting their lack of class, the School Board whacked him with a broom.

They did not want to just send him away but to add a potch that he would not forget about who is in charge.

Hopefully, few students were watching. This was not proper grownup behavior.

The new superintendent is the School District’s best role model – not a promise but a guarantee based on 19 years of evidence in the District. She is the ideal antidote to the odor lingering from the Arnold firing.

Professional, strong and clear-eyed, Ms. Lockhart has delivered a series of impressive performances across the last six months.

The District’s engine finally is purring again.