A huge thanks to folks who have already made it to one of the community forums regarding the upcoming budget for our Mill River Union Unified School District. We are so grateful for the input we've received as we prepare to present our floated budget for next year to the full board on December 21.

For those of you who are interested in the process by which a budget is determined, we invite you to come to a community conversation, virtually, on Monday, December 19 from 6:30-7:30. While some community conversations have their topic generated by the interests or inquiries of those who show up, we're focusing this one on discussing the intricacies of how a school budget is formed: from the timelines we must adhere to, what information does or doesn't make it on a budget ballot, how things like per-pupil spending and CLA and other factors determine a tax rate, and the opportunities the budget funds for our students!

These community conversations are not a place where board members gather to discuss matters with other board members and then take action, you'll have to come to a meeting on the first or third Wednesday night to see that in action! Rather, these community conversations are an opportunity for board members to engage in conversation with fellow community members to talk about past action and provide insight to processes, a sort of midpoint between happening to run into one of us at the grocery store or setting up a time to chat. Community conversations are one of the varied offerings our school board offers to engage with our community as we represent our electorates to work towards the goal of providing a quality education for all our students across the district.

Please email communityengagement@millriverschools.org for the link to this meeting.