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A few weeks ago, school officials delivered a sobering piece of news to thousands of parents, teachers and children across Fairfax County.

In order to close a Titanic-sized gap in the school budget, Superintendent Jack Dale unveiled a list of potential program and position cuts totaling $162 million and 1,700 jobs. 

If those numbers didn't get anyone's attention, the list of programs said to be on the chopping block certainly did. 

In addition to the elimination of full-day kindergarten to all but 33 Title I schools, a move that saves about $14 million, potential cuts include increasing class sizes by one student per teacher ($19.1 million in savings); eliminating elementary band and strings programs ($7 million); dissolving foreign language programs in elementary schools ($3.4 million) and significantly reducing special-needs staff at high schools across the county.

The list goes on and on.

While we understand the extraordinary pressure school officials face in tough budgetary times, broadcasting every conceivable "code red" scenario for public consumption seems an odd strategy.

If striking fear in the heart of anyone connected to a textbook or blackboard is the goal, consider the school system's five-alarm response to the budget shortfall a screaming success.

Unfortunately, it also sends an unnecessary message across the region, state and country that a top-flight school system is in danger of dropping to "also-ran" status.

In reality, all of these programs aren't going to get clipped. Will there have to be cuts and concessions made over the next month or two? Yes. Will things be as dire as currently portrayed? Not likely.

After all, not a single cut will be made until input is gathered from school employees, parents and the community. Students with special needs will still get assistance, big yellow school buses will still roam our neighborhoods, and languages like Spanish, French and Japanese will still be spoken in schools across the county.

There's little question that playing the doom-and-gloom card has its benefits. When the quality of their child's education is jeopardized, angry parents usually attend more public meetings, write more letters and are willing to pay more taxes. The threat of a weakened school system also gets wheels turning among area business leaders whose recruitment and retention efforts are often linked to a freshman football team or a third grader's access to German classes.

Gloomy forecasts also have drawbacks, not the least of which include top students jumping to private schools and top teachers exploring options in neighboring states.

To be clear, nobody is suggesting Fairfax school officials don't have tough decisions to make in the weeks and months ahead. They do.

Our only suggestion is that those decisions be made in a calm, measured way that doesn't tarnish Fairfax County's reputation or alienate the very people who helped build that system.