Central city officials met today to discuss emergency preparation plans. Hurricane Emergency Information is on the city website at www.centralgov.com and on the Central Fire Dept website at www.centralfd.org. You can also find more tips and ideas about emergency preparations at http://www.getagameplan.org/.

The CCSS School Board meeting Monday night began with a discussion about the proposed budget and the current $166,000 in reserve funds. This amount is less than 1% of the overall $28 million budget, and all seem to agree that a larger reserve is needed so that the school system is prepared to fund emergencies should they arise.  Mr. Faulk stated that he had already considered a freeze on hiring, and at the September 2nd Finance Committee meeting consideration will be given as to what areas, if any, could be cut in order to increase the reserve.  The budget will be discussed at the next school board meeting on Sept. 8th.  Copies of the budget are available at the CCSS office located at 13421 Hooper Rd., Suite 6. 

Mr. Faulk informed the board that 3,661 students are currently enrolled in the Central Community School System in grades Pre-K thru 12. He also shared that there were, of course, issues that would be addressed, but that overall the start up of school went very smoothly.  Work continues to be done to complete the walkways to the temporary buildings at several schools and additional lunch lines are being added.  There are also several bus routes that will be re-evaluated and possibly consolidated so the ride times are shorter for the children.

Central Middle School’s PTO would like to invite you to join them and pitch in with other parents to help our children and teachers.  You will get updated emails of activities going on at school and get to know other parents and teachers.  You can send $5 with the form attached to school with your student and get the 411 at Central Middle.  You can click this link to get your MEMBERSHIP FORM.

CMS will be holding tryouts for girls softball on Tuesday, August 26 through Thursday, August 28 from 2:50 pm – 5:00 pm each day.  This will be for 7th and 8th grade girls. Each person that participates in any extracurricular activity must take a drug test and also have a health physical, both of which are available through the school.  If you have any questions, contact the school at 261-3056.

The Central City Council met tonight at Kristenwood at 6 PM.  All Council members were present and disposed of its routine business efficiently.  The Council was visited by an attorney from a State Commission which sets the standards for installation of manufactured housing.  At issue is whether the City of Central has the legal right to mandate that mobile homes be located on a four inch thick slab of concrete.  The City ordinance currently attempts to require this standard while the State Commission argues that Central must allow other installations including sand, gravel and clay.  The council voted to send the issue to the State Attorney General for an opinion.

Come to CentralSpeaks.com to hear the audio webcast of this season’s Central High School varsity football games.  The games will be produced and broadcast by SportsGumbo.net, just as they have been in the past.  Jon Fine of SportsGumbo.net has, as a service to the sports fans in Central, arranged to allow a link on CentralSpeaks.com bringing you directly to the live broadcast of the games.  A thanks also goes out to Wes Watts, the Athletic Director for the Central School System, for helping to put this together.  So, come out and watch the games in person if you can.  If not, log on to CentralSpeaks.com and look for the link on the front page to hear the game live in the comfort of your own home.

The CCSS school board meeting last night started out with a discussion about the proposed budget and the $166,000 surplus which is less than 1% of the $28 million budget. Mr. Faulk stated he had already thought about a freeze on hiring and at the Finance Committee meeting they will look at what areas could be cut. The Finance Committee will meet on Sept. 2. The budget will be discussed at the next school board meeting on Sept. 8. Copies of the budget are available at the CCSS office located at 13421 Hooper Rd., Suite 6.

Mr. Faulk informed the board that there are 3661 students that are currently enrolled in CCSS in grades PreK thru 12th.

Mr. Faulk reported that there were of course issues that had to be addressed, but overall the start up of school went very smoothly. They are continuing to work on walkways to the temporary buildings at several schools, lunch lines are being added, and there are several bus routes that will be reevaluated and possibly consolidated so the ride times are less for the children.

The first CMS PTO meeting has been rescheduled for a later date.  At the next meeting, Mr. Cashio will be there to answer questions and we will have representatives from school clubs so you can find out what extracurricular activies your child can participate in.   For more information feel free to contact Darci Biggs at darci@louisianadreamhome.com.  We look forward to seeing you there.  PTO will provide drinks if the parents would like to bring snacks you are more than welcome.  Snacks always make a meeting better. We will also have PTO Forms there if you have not joined.  We are now right at 100 members.  Spread the word about how helpful these emails are and help us to up our membership.   Thanks,   Darci Biggs and Wyndi Bonvillian

The Wildcat Backers do an immense amount of work in support of all athletics at Central High School.  In order to do all that they do, they also have fund-raisers.  This year you will see Backers selling raffle tickets at home football games.  Spend a dollar or two and take a chance on winning one of several very nice prizes available for this year’s raffles.  All proceeds go to support Central athletics, so look for a backer and donate a buck.