It was last October, and Fayette County Schools Superintendent Chris Perkins, appearing before The Register-Herald editorial board, was asked what would happen if voters rejected a $49 million school bond issue in a special election to be held in less than two weeks.

“... we’re still going to have to make tough decisions,” he said. “We can’t manage 22 schools. We will be at the mercy of the decision-makers, either the local board or the state board.”

Perkins had worked hard to convince voters to approve the bond issue, which would have leveraged another $22 million in state School Building Authority money in a consolidation and renovation package that would have closed six old buildings that, according to one Fayette board member, were in such deplorable condition that someone “should be held criminally responsible.”

But on Oct. 24, county voters overwhelmingly rejected the bond issue. And last Thursday, less than four months following that election, the state Board of Education voted to take over control of the Fayette school system.

No one should be surprised. No one can honestly say he or she didn’t see this day coming.

The result of last October’s election might have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, but there were other problems as well. The county had been under state scrutiny for 11 years, and in 2007, the state placed the county under a state of emergency, followed by nonapproval status.

Although improvements had been made in some areas, student performance — declining test scores and graduation rates — and substandard facilities remained significant problems.

For years, many in Fayette County, and certain school board members, resisted the changes that were needed to move the school system forward, clinging instead to the past and refusing to accept the fact that a declining student population could no longer justify six high schools, refusing to accept the fact that students were unable to take advantage of a challenging curriculum because the schools they attended were too small to make Advanced Placement classes practical.

Now, Perkins will be out as superintendent and the local board’s role will be significantly diminished.

And change will be coming. The state is not taking over the Fayette school system to maintain the status quo. And it will be a process that stretches over years, not months.

Some may view the state takeover as a negative development. And yes, giving up local control of a school system is a tough pill to swallow.

But we prefer to view it as a positive development. Changes that are long overdue will be made for the betterment of those who matter most — the students.

This is a chance for the people of Fayette County to work with those who will soon be in control and seize the opportunity to finally end a political turf war and move education in the county forward.

Fayette County has many things going for it, not the least of which is the new, huge Boy Scout development in the Glen Jean/Mount Hope area.

It’s time the county has a modern, first-rate school system to complement its many attractions.