The first education budget workshop of the season drew about 40 people to Tolland High School this week and the chairwoman of the Board of Education's Communications Committee said it was a good start to the series "with a lot of energy."
The workshops are designed to bring school officials, town officials and the public together for discussions before a final 2014-15 school system budget number is reached and sent to Town Manager Steven Werbner.
And the crowd for the initial one on Wednesday was representative of that, Moran said.
Initially, the workshop took on a classroom feel with notes outlined on a board.
The goals noted were:
• Outline a plan.
• Public participation.
• Evaluate the budget process.
• Discriminate the top priorities.
• Critique schools' specific needs.
• Quantify as-is costs.
• Propose ideas.
Attendees then broke off into small groups for more focused discussions.
"It was a good start," Moran said. "People got to know each other and we are all working toward being united in the budget process."
Here is the balance of the workshop schedule. The meetings are slated for Tolland High School:
• January 22, 7:30 p.m. (budget review and public participation sessions will be on the agenda).
• Jan. 29, 7 p.m.
• Feb 5 at 7 p.m.
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