It’s been a long process, but Bay District School Board members are closer to finalizing a budget for the upcoming year.

Thursday, they approved Superintendent James McCalister's version of the budget for advertising purposes only. But nothing is final until board members are done making changes.

Bay District School Superintendent McCalister is done with his budget for the upcoming school year. But it's not exactly what the board members have in mind.

"We've had 28 different workshops. And in those workshops the superintendent and the board have been working together for the budget. At the very end when we got to the end, there were still three projects that the board said to the superintendent 'please put these back in the budget.' He did not do that. He could not find a way to do that or he decided not to do that," said Donna Allen, a School Board member.

Those three projects are elimination of the Junior Museum contract, elimination of the Emerald Bay Academy contract, and a reduction in school resource officers.

"I have a little bit of a problem voting for any kind of budget tentative or not that just doesn't really adhere to where I think we should be spending some of our money. Certainly one of which, in my opinion, might sacrifice to a degree the safety and security of our kids in our high schools, not to mention those that could potentially lose their jobs," said Jon McFatter, another School Board member.

The tentative budget will be advertised for a week, and board members will hold a workshop and public hearing on July 31st. At that time, the budget is no longer Superintendent McCalister’s, and the board can make changes they see fit.