Education

The Shelby County school district presented its tentative budget during Thursday's school board meeting, taking its second look at what 2010-2011 should look like.

The first budget, the draft budget, was prepared in late January, and the final version, the working budget, will be finished in the fall, once the final enrollment numbers are known.

Like hundreds of his fellow juniors, it’s clear that Adam Miller is ready for his senior year of high school. But whether he will be graduating as a Rocket or a Titan remains up in the air.

Miller was in a crowd of more than 100 in the Shelby County High School Theater on Thursday night as Martha Layne Collins High School Principal Anthony Hatchell shared the latest information on the new high school and answered an assortment of questions from parents and students, ranging from concerns about course offerings to athletic inquiries.

The Shelby County Board of Education was able to free up some money for other projects at Thursday's meeting.

After updating the finance application for Collins High School at its meeting July 8 and adding $2.3 million back into the building fund, the board was able to move the funding of the Collins Athletic Complex from the general fund to the building fund. That also includes the recent building change orders to remove unsuitable soils from the parking lots of the school and baseball/softball fields.

Following discussions during an open forum Thursday, at least some parents have a better understanding of the reasons and impact behind the school attendance area redistricting for 2010-11.

And it appears school administrators benefited from the forum as well.