Special Meeting for Public on School Budget Scheduled for Friday

The Borough Council announced at Monday's regular meeting that the public will have a chance to have its opinions heard–and hear more particulars on possible shared service opportunites–in regard the school budget soon.

The council will hold a special meeting on Friday night at 6 at Bayley-Ellard to discuss the defeated budget. Council has until May 19 to decide on the new budget number.

After the decision is rendered, the Board of Education has full jurisdiction in determining what items to adjust in order to meet the new budget total.

When Council President Jeannie Tsukamoto told the public about the Friday meeting, it was the first time Board of Education President Lisa Ellis–who was in attendance–had heard of it, as the council decided to have it while in executive session before the regular meeting.

"We picked that date out because we have not that many days left before the deadline," Tsukamoto said to Ellis. "We hope that your members can also attend this meeting. Also note that we have a joint meeting scheduled on the 18th, which is next Tuesday. We are planning on coming to your scheduled Board of Education Meeting to finalize the budget discussion at that meeting."

Ellis will be able to attend Friday's meeting, but Vice President Pat Rowe, who also attended Monday's meeting, will not be able to attend. The joint meeting on May 18 takes place one day before the deadline for council to render the new budget number.

Another possible conversation topic at Friday's meeting could be shared service opportunities between the borough and the district.

Tom Haralampoudis approached the council during the public comments portion of the meeting to address a number of subjects, including those opportunities.

"I wanted to know what progress you've made with shared services with the schools," Haralampoudis said. "If you've had a meeting or two since the last council meeting, I wanted to see if there were any positive developments that you could share with the public."

Councilman Robert Conley said that there have been more shared service conversations in light of the defeated budget, but that Monday's meeting may not have been the time to bring up particulars. He said that they may be able to talk about it at Friday's meeting.

Councilman Don Links also said that he thought there had to be more transparency dealing with the shared service opportunities, which he is a strong supporter of creating, and cited Friday's meeting as a good place to discuss it in the open.

"The bottom line is for both bodies to deliver excellent education at an affordable price to Madison residents," Conley said.