County Commission Meets Tonight

And they will discuss the School Board's amended budget -- which requires an additional $2.7 million to be balanced.  That money could come from a reallocation of existing dollars or some shift in the tax allocation to schools or use of reserve funds.  It will NOT involve a tax increase of any kind.

If the budget passes, the School Board will have a meeting Tuesday night and school could return as early as Wednesday, but more likely, Thursday.

If the budget does NOT pass, it is unclear what is next.  The School Board would have to have a longer, more in-depth meeting to consider cuts, it seems. This may further delay the start of school.  And while there are some items that could be cut without cutting jobs, it seems inevitable that if this budget is not passed, jobs -- teaching jobs -- would be lost. 

So, what does the vote look like going into tonight's meeting?

Here's a breakdown based on last Monday's votes and on historic voting records in terms of school budgets:

LIKELY YES

Ben Harris
Baker Ring
Chris Hughes
Shawn Utley
Paul Decker
David Kimbrough
Michael Guthrie
Paul Goode
Trish LeMarbre

POSSIBLE YES

Paige Brown Strong

LIKELY NO

Billy Geminden
Jerry Stone
Kirk Moser
Merrol Hyde
Jim Vaughn
Joe Matthews
Frank Freels
Mike Akins
Moe Taylor
Bob Pospisil

POSSIBLE NO

David Satterfield
Paul Freels
Jo Skidmore
Steve Graves


Going in, it looks like 10 solid "no" votes and 9 solid "yes" votes.  Should Brown-Strong vote YES, it is a 10-10 tie.  It takes 13 votes to pass the budget. 

All listed in the "possible no" category have voted against the most recent school funding proposals and have historically had difficulty supporting schools budgets.  That would make it 14-10.  If the pro-schools side can move 3 of those votes, they would get the budget passed 13-11.

Of course, there could be amendments and additional proposals that come from the floor during debate.  Some modified version of the budget could gain a majority. 

Could be a long, interesting meeting.