Last week I attended one of several community meetings that were initiated by the school system in Watauga county, but with the assistance of a professional consultant. It was very interesting to participate in this process. The objective is to figure out how to best allocate resources within the system, particularly for capital expenditures. For example, two high schools, K-8 vs middle schools, etc.

The interesting part is to see the community given the chance to be polled and express their opinions both in writing via surveys and in person. Also, this consultant is very experienced and has just been awarded a contract to revamp an entire state's infrastructure plans for the next three years. Her perspective ties architectural design with functionality, and new "trends" in the delivery of education. I plan on continuing to attend these meetings and staying involved in this process and can keep updating this strand if anyone is interested.

Patty, I'm very interested in this and would like to read any updates you can post. I think it is great that the county is asking for feedback from the public and hope that the commisioners will genuinely take it into consideration when making decisions and allocating money.

Patty this sounds great I wish our county/system would do this as well. I think that this gives the community the opportunity to see first hand what resources schools actually have and how tough it is to balance the budget and do what is best for children. My only concern is the community members who usually attend and participate in these types of forums are usually the ones who understand how schools are budgeted, to some extent, while the ones who need the information normally are not actively involved. Does this make any sense?