Budget Causes BOE to Expand to Three Monthly Meetings

Planning for the 2010-2011 school budget is leading the Board of Education to schedule more meetings between now and the April budget deadline.

The board's schedule for January, February and March has three meetings of the full board instead of the two typically scheduled per month. The third monthly meeting has been placed on the schedule in order to allow increased discussion of the annual budget by board members. The board meeting schedule does not include the meetings of the board's budget committee.

The Board of Education typically starts considering the annual spending plan in January as part of the preparation of the plan. The plan needs to be reviewed by the county schools superintendent in the spring before the April school board elections.

In the event the spending plan is not adopted by voters during the April school elections, control over the budget will switch to the Town Council. The Council will then set the overall revenue stream for the school system, with the board deciding any cuts to make to fit the Council's overall spending plan for education.