PICKENS COUNTY – After months of public meetings to help determine what does and does not get funded in a tight budget year, the School District of Pickens County Board of Trustees will hold first reading of the General Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 Monday night in its monthly meeting.

The first reading of the budget will be by caption/title alone and will be handled by Melissa Campbell, the district’s executive director of finance.

The meeting will also feature a vote asking for approval on the 2010-2011 General Fund Budget.

The meeting will be held in the multipurpose room of the B.J. Skelton Career Center, 1400 Griffin Mill Road.

The change in the location of the meeting from the district office to the Career Center is due to having testing materials (High School Exit Exams and PASS Grades 3-8) stored at the district office.

The meeting opens with an executive session set for an hour beginning at 6 p.m.

During the executive session, the board will discuss leaves, hires and separations, as well as begin determining what adjustments will need to be made due to budget eliminations approved by the board earlier this month.

Of note on the executive session agenda is discussion of the renewal of the contract for District Superintendent Dr. Henry Hunt.

Unspecified property matters are also scheduled for discussion during the executive session.

The public session will begin with an invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance, both led by students from A.R. Lewis Elementary School.

After introducing any executive session motions or changes to the agenda, the board will be asked to approve the minutes from the last board meeting.

Next on the agenda is the Citizen Input session. Dozens appeared before the board in previous meetings to speak out about possible budget cuts. The response for Monday night, once the budget has been initially set for the new year, is difficult to predict.

Following the citizen input session, the board will be treated to a presentation of the winners of the Palmetto Gold and Palmetto Silver Awards for high schools and career centers in the county.

Dr. Hunt will also present examples of student’s art to be featured in the Superintendent’s Art Gallery.

Campbell will then present the district’s financial report.

Board member then will give reports from meetings of the special property committee and the policy committee.

Next on the agenda is the approval of the update of the 2010-2011 General Fund Budget and the 2012 General Fund Budget.

Following comments from the board members and the superintendent, the board will adjourn.