As students and teachers settle back into their classrooms, school administrators across the area are also heading back to work this morning.

Awaiting them are decisions about budget cuts, both for this school year and for the coming year.

Parents and residents can get in on the action this month as various districts across Washtenaw County host public meetings on financial issues.

In Saline, the district is looking for volunteers to serve on a 2010-2011 Building/Grade Reconfiguration Committee; Pay to Play Review Committee; and Activity Fee Review Committee. The deadline to apply to be on one of them is Friday, Jan. 8. You can download the application here.

The area’s biggest district - Ann Arbor - also has opportunities for parents and others to get involved.

On Thursday, the district will hold its first budget meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Huron High School.

In advance of the meeting, the district has posted a guide to the budget with lots of details in it. Plenty of discussion has already been generated on this story about that guide and the figures in it.

Other meetings

• Ann Arbor will hold its regular school board meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the downtown Ann Arbor library. An agenda is not yet available for that meeting.
• Saline will hold a special meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the federal Race to the Top program and the flurry of education reform bills recently passed by the Michigan Legislature in response to that program. The meeting is at the Union School district headquarters.
• Willow Run will meet on Thursday in the high school. An agenda is not yet available for that meeting.

David Jesse covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.