$9.5M per year levy coming up for Lakeland

A $9.5 million per year supplemental levy will be on the March 9 ballot for residents in the Lakeland Joint School District. The levy is for two years.

District officials refer to it as an "instructional" levy rather than supplemental because it funds programs critical to student instruction, including extracurricular activities and athletics, full-day kindergarten, advanced learning programs, technology integration and the ability to maintain small neighborhood schools with reasonable class sizes.

The two-year levy would provide $9.5 million per year, or $19 million through two years.

The current levy provides nearly 30% of the district's general fund budget. The state provides money for salaries and benefits as well as discretionary dollars that pay for things like electricity, instructional supplies and diesel fuel.

District leaders are confident this levy will pass because Lakeland has strived to provide what its families and constituents have requested through the years, recently including remaining in the "yellow" COVID risk category, keeping students in class five days a week and recommending but not mandating that masks be worn on school property.

Assistant Superintendent Lisa Sexton said she can't remember when a levy hasn't passed in her district.

"The patrons of Lakeland School District have been very supportive of our schools," Sexton said.

She said despite COVID, it's actually "been the best year with regard to the feelings in the buildings."

"The kids are so happy to actually get to be in school," she said.

In 2019, a $70.9 million bond measure floated by Lakeland failed when only 28% of voters approved. The measure, which would have funded a new complex for Lakeland and Mountain View high schools and improved other schools, needed at least 66.6% to vote in favor for it to go through.

Immediately after the bond was voted down, Lakeland leaders surveyed constituents to understand why they rejected it.

"We worked really hard to get beyond the parents and into the community to get to what was not palatable," Sexton said. "They felt there wasn't enough information out there to make an informed decision."

She said they learned that many in their district appreciate "old-fashioned snail mail" so for the upcoming March 9 levy, the district has sent out a "save-the-date" reminder and is preparing information-filled brochures that will go into the community in a couple weeks.

She said the Lakeland School Board was intentional in setting the levy amount so if nothing changed with a family’s property or its assessed value, the family would see no tax increase as a result of this levy.

This is not a new levy, but a replacement of the supplemental levy that will expire at the end of this school year.

Superintendent Becky Meyer said in a news release that Lakeland is hoping to see a record turnout at the polls on March 9.

“We are fortunate to have so much support from our patrons," she said. "Lakeland is a great place to be."

Info: www.sd272.org or call the district office at 208-687-0431.