Given that the School System eats up around 60% of the Blount County budget, a pretty momentous event will be taking place tonight at 7 p.m. in the Blount County School Central Office on Grandview Drive. There will be a School Board Meeting and each September, they choose a new chairman. Here are the school board members: Link....

The possibilities are many. Any one of the current board members could theoretically be elected.

The current chairman is Mike Treadway, who works for an architectural firm and serves on the joint construction committee, amongst other committees. He could be selected to serve another year.

And while school board seats are non-partisan by state law, former chairman of the Blount County Republican party John Davis could be selected. He's also a retired teacher and administrator.

Or Charles Finley, retired teacher and administrator.

Or Don McNelly, who holds a doctorate in education and was a professor in the school of education at UT.

Or Chris Cantrell, formerly of the Sheriff's department.

Or Booty Miller, retired teacher and administrator (although not likely, since he already served in this capacity and was passed over when his term expired a couple of years ago).

Or Rob Webb, who works for Rural Metro.

These meetings are always worth attending, given their huge impact on our tax rate.