School district to hold themed meetings

NASHUA – So you want school administrators to hear your two cents’ worth about athletics, but you don’t want to sit through long, boring discussions about curriculum and staff development?

Or vice versa?

The school district had you in mind when officials created a schedule of department-specific meetings to gauge what the public is thinking.

For three years, the Nashua School District has employed program-based budgeting, in which program teams come up with different spending packages and an advisory committee ranks the packages.

Public input is a big part of the process, said Jim Mealey, the school district’s chief operating officer.

Citizens are invited to be part of each program team, he said.

However, many residents have voiced an interest in giving their opinion about a specific program, but for whatever reason weren’t interested in serving on a committee, Mealey noted.

To gather the feedback of those residents, the school district has scheduled a series of program meetings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Each of the meetings will take place at the district administrative office at 141 Ledge St., except for the high school instruction committee, which will be at Nashua High School North media center.

Each meeting will allow the public an opportunity to talk with the managers from each program area and discuss possible budget priorities.

The purpose of the meetings is twofold, Mealey said.

First, they’ll drive discussion between the school board and the superintendent on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, he said.

They’ll also help the school board to weight programs competing for funds, he said.