Reporter’s Note
Join the Times Free Press and community members this Wednesday for a forum about gun violence and how it affects our community. The discussion follows the launch of the Times Free Press’ project Cost of the Crossfire.
The event begins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10 at the Carver Youth and Family Development Center at 600 N. Orchard Knob Ave. For more information, contact Allison Shirk Collins at ashirk@timesfreepress.com.
– Meghan
THIS WEEK IN EDUCATION NEWS
This week begins five weeks of money meetings for Hamilton County Schools.
The school board will meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, for its second budget work session and continue meeting each Thursday until the board approves Superintendent Bryan Johnson’s proposed budget.
At a Hamilton County Commission meeting last week, District 4 Commissioner Warren Mackey reflected on what he thought might be coming from that budget.
“Hamilton County government is about to go into budget hearings. And I anticipate that the superintendent is going to say he needs more money,” Mackey said.
On March 28, at the board’s first budget work session, Chief Operations Officer Ken Bradshaw and Director of Facilities Justin Witt presented a $3 million proposed budget for some of the county’s deferred maintenance.
The presentation included a list of “Band-Aid” projects that the district can afford such as new parking lot lights, fire door replacements and new lockers, but district officials have said before that there is about $200 million worth of deferred maintenance across the county.
Follow the Times Free Press and education reporter Meghan Mangrum throughout the month for coverage of the school district’s budget process and more!