Recently a judge in Madison Alabama ordered mediation to proceed between Madison City Schools and Limestone County regarding a portion of county property and sales tax proceeds. A portion of the city of Madison is located within Limestone County, and students within that area attend Madison City Schools at no charge. The school system does not receive any of the area’s tax dollars.

According to the Madison City School superintendent, there is optimism an agreement can be reached through mediation and court will not be necessary.

He told a local news channel the school system is facing a $1.5 million budget shortfall and that he intended to recommend massive cuts to departments across the board at the district’s upcoming budget meeting. He stated the goal has always been to keep cuts out of the classroom and find better ways to stretch the budget, such as within operations, technology, transportation, or the athletics department. According to him, 1600 kids shouldn’t be disenfranchised from county-wide tax money.

If the school district and Limestone County are able to reach an agreement through mediation, that shortfall could be reduced. The superintendent hopes getting everyone together to discuss and better understand the issues in dispute is a good thing, even if they do not completely agree on every issue. He’s optimistic about the upcoming mediation, but intends to do all he can to secure funding for his schools. If mediation proves successful, money would be available to the district immediately and proposed budget cuts would be stopped.