The Board met four evenings last week beginning on Tuesday with the regular first meeting of the month. This was followed by three straight evenings of budget discussions. On two of those evenings, the entire budget committee was present to answer questions and to share their thoughts on the process of identifying and recommending potential budget adjustments. On Friday, they met with the intent of sharing their individual scoring on each adjustment and reaching consensus on what will be recommended for public feedback.
The results of their work will be shared Monday on the district’s website. You will then be able to see what potential adjustments fall below the $3.35 target and are thus saved, unless the target increases because the state cuts go deeper into public schools. You will also be able to see the order in which the adjustments will be reconsidered in the event that the state cuts are not as deep as anticipated or if the Board chooses to consider using any anticipated increase to the fund balance.
The Board has spent many hours planning for and then implementing a process to review the recommended adjustments. They have completed this phase and now have additional hours of hearing public feedback, reconsidering their priorities based on this feedback, determining a final target, and making final decisions. Through all of this they have practiced skillful discussion, using communication skills to keep an emotional topic in their rational brains. Disagreement was often evident and always ended with a consensus decision that all will support. I am proud to have had some influence and participation in this process and to be associated with this committed team of Board members.
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