Allowing corporal punishment is only half the loaf.

The School Board decided Tuesday to ask principals for opinions on putting paddling back in the system. It hasn’t been allowed since 2022.

Board member Linda Burgess raised the issue, saying she has been asked by some parents to do so.

The other half of the loaf is the mandatory parental permission to apply it when determined necessary.

State law requires such to be signed, sealed and filed away before the fact and also requires detailed reporting to the Department of Education for any corporal punishment administered.

Based on initial social media comments parents seem as divided as the board on the question.

In 2022 the vote was 5-4 to bar such punishment; last year, though membership had changed, it was 5-4 to retain the ban.

Practicality is that such a discipline alternative is aimed at elementary and perhaps some middle school infractions. High schools are a different matter.