The delete option isn't all bad. Sometimes we say things in the heat of anger and immediately regret them (right -after- hitting send). An immediate delete in such cases can be a lifesaver. But, once a post has replies, deleting single posts and leaving replies to the thread is just ill-mannered, IMHO.

If the boards were somehow threaded, it might be easier for Fencer to implement something like that: Allow deletion by creator only up until a reply is made. Hrm...