Mitchell says these hearings have proven to be beneficial with the public bringing forward their issues.

Mitchell says, "I have always said that I want to be collaborative as part of this process as my leadership style is, I'll go ahead and do the work and put something out there for people to take a look at, and then it's good to go out there and get more people to come to the table and talk about different ideas that they have, and so we can put everybody's minds together to come up with the best final conclusion."

Mitchell says the main concern the public is bringing forward involves the cut of $1.5 million and 30 employees at the middle school level. Mitchell says district officials are taking notes on the pros and cons of this approach.

Tessa Thomas