Those who support putting more control over schools in the hands of staff and management on each campus can celebrate another success.

The latest report card from the state Fire Council shows that public school leaders throughout the Islands have achieved a marked improvement in fire safety. With only four schools still needing to fix fire code violations, that adds up to a 98 percent passing rate, much higher than the previous mark of 77 percent compliance.

Fire and school officials agree that a new fire inspection system — one that gives schools 10 days to correct their own violations — enabled this progress. Remaining safety flaws largely stemmed from structural and other major problems that required extra funding to repair.

The schools involved volunteer squads, usually parents and other community residents with some technical expertise, in the inspections. That was a welcome, common-sense approach: Volunteers quickly spotted and sped repairs of common problems, related to exit signs, alarm systems and extension cords.

At a time of constraints imposed by broad mandates such as the federal No Child Left Behind law, it's refreshing to have this reminder that initiative still exists and works well in our schools, powered from the ground up.