Red Deer Public School District trustees and district administrators want the public to come out on Monday night to tell them what the essentials are in the public school system. It’s the 13th annual town hall meeting held by the school district.
The provincial budget is expected to be released on Tuesday and many expect there will be cuts to education in the coming year.
Bill Stuebing, chairman of the Red Deer Public School District board, said the district has held the town hall meetings regularly for years now just before the board’s planning retreat so they can gather input.
“Typically we have two or three issues that we want to see addressed at that time in that context,” Stuebing said. “This year we’ve changed the format a little bit and we’re devoting it to one single issue and the one single issue is what are the essentials we want to make sure we don’t lose.”
The meeting will be held on from 6:45 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. at the Harvest Centre at Westerner Park. The session is open to parents, students, staff and the community, offering them the chance to look at what areas could be considered for reduced funding or eliminated.
Stuebing said the district will provide participants with lists of items that show the expenditure categories in the budget and some background information on each about what they are. During the discussions the district will use polling technology, with participants having access to clickers they can use to vote about what they think.
Trustees will take the information from the discussions, as well as the polling to help them make decisions about future priorities in the district.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com