We have no doubt that the Academically and Intellectually Gifted Center in Smithfield will one day become home to offices for school system employees. One school board member has told us that the goal is to consolidate school system offices in one spot if possible. Given the inevitable, the only question is the school board's commitment to the county's smartest youngsters.

AIG teachers and parents care little for one scenario -- two AIG centers, one in Smithfield and one in Clayton. The fear, likely justified because of the cost, is that separate centers will not be able to offer what one center offers.

That is to say, the Clayton center might offer instruction in math and science but not music and art. We can understand why parents might frown on that. They are accustomed to their gifted youngsters having access to all that the county has to offer.

We do not know what individual school board members think of the AIG program; it seldom comes up in conversation -- or at meetings for that matter. But the county has had an AIG program for years now, so a commitment is there at some level.

The question is how deep the commitment goes; does it extend, for example, to asking voters to borrow the money needed to build a single AIG center, most likely in Smithfield because of its central location?

Clearly, the school board is committed to its employees; it spent $2.6 million to turn an old three-story classroom building into offices that house about four dozen people. That is quite a bit of money per employee.

Are the county's gifted youngsters worth any less?