OKEMOS - The Okemos School Board held their first ever community meeting on Wednesday night with the goal of having conversations with the public to hear the top priorities and concerns regarding the budget.

The meeting began with a presentation by Director of Finance Robert Cark and Superintendent Catherine Ash, which explained the finances for Okemos schools and schools across the state. The presentation focused on the changes in state funding over the past 10 years, as well as how Okemos has adapted to those changes.

"We really just wanted to give the community an opportunity to kind of see that piece of our budget, as well as the whole budget to see how it all fits in and how we prioritize,” said Okemos School Board President Amy Crites.

The presentation then led into small group discussions and an open forum. The main objective of the exercise was to asses the top suggestions and priorities the community had for the board about future budgets. Some of the main concerns brought to the board involved pay to participate rules in school sports as well as increasing school staff.