A group of Minot parents with kids in public schools got a civics lesson recently. They were reminded, or perhaps learned, that speaking up in a respectful manner goes a long way in effecting change.

There has been a bit of a controversy this school year related to COVID-19. For health reasons, students are not being allowed to use lockers in public schools.

Well, that policy didn’t sit well with some parents from Day 1, knowing that lugging books and belongings from class to class to class all day long is hard on young shoulders and backs. So a few parents – quite a few of them, actually – circulated a petition asking the school board to reconsider the policy. And it has. A committee that has been planning for how schools will operate during the pandemic will take up the issue this week and report back to school superintendent Mark Vollmer.

That doesn’t mean the parents will get their way. But that is how it is done. Peacefully, respectfully, win or lose. Don’t we wish that were true everywhere?

We hope the kids lugging the backpacks around took notice of the manner in which their parents advocated for them and appreciate that their parents went to bat for them.

So, what’s the right thing to do – lockers or no lockers?

We’ll all find out together – and hopefully accept the decision of the people we have placed in authority to make such calls.