In the days before anesthesia, wounded soldiers facing battlefield surgery were given a bullet to bite to get slight relief from the pain they were about to endure. Most public agencies, facing the possibility of getting a lot less state money than they had planned for, are not biting bullets. They are gnashing their teeth, wringing their hands — and furiously lobbying to be made exceptions of. Not so the Eureka public schools. They have decided to bite the bullet, figuring that monetary surgery is inevitable.

When he submitted his Fiscal Year 2009 budget to the legislature earlier in the year, Gov. Schwarzenegger called for a 10 percent across-the-board reduction in state funding. Bear in mind that this was to be 10 percent from the budgets submitted by the various state agencies. Said budgets nearly always contain automatic increases over the previous year. To hear the wailing, you would think they are being asked to cut 10 percent from their current budget.

The Eureka City Schools Board of Education decided to use the modern definition of “bite the bullet,” which is “exhibiting fortitude in the face of adversity.” No one involved — board members, staff, teachers or parents — was wild about the alternatives presented. Instead of arguing endlessly about them, however, they took the what they believe is the best combination under the circumstances. As a result, their FY 2009 budget will have $3,506,912 less in it than they had originally planned.

This means reorganization of classes and schools. There will be four K-5 schools, one Grade Six, one grades Seven and Eight, one high school and two alternative high schools. Getting to and from school will mean new inconvenience from some students, but the important thing is they will be together with their classmates and with most of their teachers. The emphasis will be on the quality of education — where it should be. There were other unhappy choices in the new plan, such as cuts in athletics and closing the high school swimming pool. These, however, can be restored at some future time when fiscal conditions improve.

It is impressive to see at least one public body that understands that when times are bad, it is better to help solve the problem than fight it.