School System Budget Proposal Goes Public Tonight

Superintendent of Schools Mary Conway is scheduled to present her budget proposal for the 2013-14 fiscal year tonight at 6.

The meeting is slated for the Board of Education administration building.

A public comment session is on the agenda to follow the presentation.

The Board of Education in November voted to declare two major budgetary priorities.

The are:

• "Extend the school day to support students and extend opportunities to continue learning opportunities for students throughout the summer months."

• Implement full-day kindergarten.

This year's $48 million school budget represents an increase of about $700,000.

The school board has scheduled three workshops to deliberate over the budget proposal over the next month. The school board has scheduled a special meeting to vote on the spending plan on Feb. 4 at 6 p.m.

The education budget proposal is to be delivered to Mayor George Apel four days later.

Attached is the meeting agenda and the full school board budget calendar.

In a random Facebook survey, residents were mixed on the all-day kindergarten. Arguments ranged from it would help with the workload to too long a day to that it would help with handwriting because of the extra time. One parent said she would not trade a full-day for reconfiguration.

"I think opinions from parents with kindergarten students should influence that decision," one parent posted.

Some residents said taxes cannot go up and others said the school system has been underfunded.