County residents are invited to attend a town hall meeting being hosted by the Walker County Board of Education Thursday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. inside the auditorium of the Advancing Education Center, 925 Osburn Road in Chickamauga.
"Hopefully a lot of folks will come out," said Walker County Schools Superintendent Damon Raines, adding that attendees can write down questions to read to the board at the meeting. "It's a planning session, so it will run like a board meeting."
One of the topics will be a budget preview for Walker County Schools for fiscal year 2014.
"We will discuss anticipated changes," said Raines. "The funding from the state has not changed. It's a bleak picture again. We have to look at what we offer as far as services and see where we can cut. We will have to make adjustments."
In response to the state's flat yet insufficient funding, the board plans to cut county schools' Title 1 funding by 5.5 percent and special education funding by 8 percent, he said.
BOE members look at the services offered and the number of employees in order to determine how far the budget money will go in funding everything needed for the year, said Raines. In March the board looks at personnel and in April the board solidifies the preliminary budget.
The board will officially approve the fiscal year 2014 budget in June or July.
"Everyone wants to know what things look like financially," said Raines. "There's anxiety with opening a new school."
During the town hall meeting, he said residents will also be able to ask questions about the regulation changes that give Walker County principals the authority to accept students from outside their school zone. He said recent rezoning changes for the school system will be another hot topic for attendees to ask questions about.
"We have a board policy on public participation," said Raines. "We feel it's important for our community to see where the lines are drawn [for rezoning schools]."
To learn more about Walker County School System, visit here.