Wow, this was totally off my radar this year! Budget hearings are tonight and Sunday afternoon.
The Madison Metropolitan School District will be holding two Budget Hearings on May 19 (5:00 PM at the Doyle Building) and May 22 (1:00 PM, at Warner Park) prior to finalizing any layoffs in the their preliminary 2011-2012 Budget on May 23. The Preliminary Budget itself is scheduled to be finalized on June 20, following the statutorily required Public Hearing that same evening. Details on this week’s hearings are here and the full current budget timeline is here.
TJ Mertz has thoughts on it all here and I recommend read his thoughts if you are interested in this issue.
Expect a packed meeting on Monday at 6:00 as the teachers show up to fight cuts to their salaries, as they are the ones that are bearing the brunt of the budgeting cuts. Due to the Governor’s proposed state biennial budget, the 2011-12 district’s proposed preliminary budget must be reduced by approximately $24.5 million to balance the budget. That amount is reduced by $4 million from the successful referendum approved by Madison voters in November of 2008. The final reduction target is set at $20.5 million for 2011-12.
