Chilton County Schools Superintendent Keith Moore was right when he said Tuesday that now, during proration, might be a strange time to talk about expanding a school.

Moore was also right to bring the idea of an expansion before the county board of education.

Clanton Elementary School uses eight portable classrooms to be able to accommodate its students. We realize teachers do the best they can with the resources available, but trailers do not provide the optimum classroom setting and add little to the school’s attractiveness to potential Clanton residents.

The board approved a motion for Moore to get the drawings and a cost estimate for the addition of 24 classrooms. Moore said 10 or 12 new classrooms would be sufficient to eliminate the need for the trailers, but officials wanted to account for future growth.

That’s a fine approach, one that too often goes unused by school officials.

What makes a CES expansion even more plausible is that the board has available Alabama Public School and College Authority funds that can only be used for new buildings or capital improvements.

Construction costs are also low at the moment.

At first glance, new construction during proration seems odd. But for CES, now is the perfect time.