School Board budget reconciliation public hearings will be held on Thursday, April 8 and Monday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the School Administration Building, 21000 Education Court in Ashburn.

The hearings will begin with one-on-one public discussions with School Board members, which is something new the School Board is trying to allow members to comment back and forth with residents.

School Board Chairman John Stevens (Potomac) talked about this issue on his blog (http://blog.loudounschools.org/) and said:

“Public hearings are notoriously frustrating experiences. They go on forever as each person speaks one at a time. Board members sit stone faced, unable to respond. Speakers repeat themselves ad nauseum because they can’t know if we “get it.” We cannot ask a follow-up question, express support for their point of view, or disabuse them of a poorly informed notion.

This is an opportunity to hear from multiple speakers simultaneously, an opportunity for two-way communication, an opportunity for people who aren’t comfortable speaking on microphone to the whole room, an opportunity for questions and answers that public hearings don’t typically allow. The public hearing at the podium will follow but I suspect that many people, having already been heard on a more individual level, will pass. I hope that this will lead to a shorter and more productive public hearing.”

The School Board is set to decide the budget at the Tuesday, April 13th School Board meeting, also at 6:30 p.m. in the School Administration Building.