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September 2014
Page 15
Lakeland Preps for the Future
Approximately 200 people attended a community forum on Lakeland Prep and the property tax increase
with the Lakeland Board of Education and Board of Commissioners at Lakeland Elementary on August 19.
Photo by Brian Haines
Continued from page 1
schools.
According to Horrell, the
Lakeland School Board has
already approved a $50
million, five year Capital
Improvement Plan to build
“Lakeland Prep” a combined
middle and high school, first
announced in our April web
article “Joint Middle/High
School Seen as Key to
Lakeland's Future Success.”
As currently planned,
Lakeland Prep will have
classrooms for 1750 students
and hallways wide enough
for future expansion to house
2000. The Lakeland School
System forecasts that this
2000 student capacity would
serve Lakeland's middle/high
school needs for the next 1520 years.
The desire for local
control and community
schools were two reasons
Horrell identified as having
been mentioned repeatedly in
the debate for municipal
schools. "I know that
everybody who was paying
attention heard these things
and I think we can all agree
that those are things that are
desirable in a school system,"
Horrell added.
Horell reminded the
crowd that Lakeland twice
voted for the establishment
of a municipal school system
in 2012 and 2013, but added
“we won't truly have local
control or truly have
community schools for all of
our students until we have a
K-12 system.”
Currently, 1359 out of the
2169 Lakeland students
enrolled in public schools
attend schools in Arlington
or Bartlett. With an
approximate $8000 in state
and county funding per
student, $9.84 million or
56% of the $17.36 million
total goes to Arlington
Community Schools. An
addition $1.04 million (6%
of total) is paid to Bartlett
City Schools for the students
who still attend Bon Lin
Middle School through 2016
under the terms of that
interlocal agreement.
Horrell identified
concerns that at the end of
its seven year Interlocal
Agreement with Lakeland,
a proposed cost--including
70 acres of land, construction
costs of $130/ sq. ft.,
architect and engineering
fees, furnished, and with
athletic facilities--of $50
million.
The cost to Lakeland
taxpayers would be an
additional $0.55 property tax
increase to finance a 30-year
municipal bond without
adversely impacting City of
cannot be decided by public
referendum, but must be
voted on by the Mayor and
Board of Commissioners.
The first reading of the
ordinance to approve the
special property tax was
approved unanimously at the
Board of Commissioners
meeting on August 14. The
City of Lakeland will hold a
public hearing at the
September 4 work session at
5:30 pm and a second
reading and vote at its
September meeting, which
has been changed to
September 23 at 5:30 pm.
What about Lakeland
Elementary?
Arlington Co mmunity
Schools quite simply will run
out
of
room
for
Lakeland students or be
unable to provide
transportation for them. If
this happened, Horrell
suggested that Lakeland
could be forced to turn to
Shelby County Schools to
educate its middle and high
school students.
Why now?
Horrell argued that the
city could take advantage of
lower interest rates and that
parents are making decisions
now about where children
will go to school when
deciding on where to live.
This belief that people
move to municipalities
because of the schools
and need for Lakeland to
provide a K-12 system to be
competitive was echoed
throughout the evening.
Ultimatel y, Horrell
presented a 262,000 sq. ft.
joint middle/high school with
Lakeland services. That
increase would bring the total
local property tax for
Lakeland to $1.40, making it
the second lowest in Shelby
County after Arlington at
$1.15. Before the approval of
Ordinance 12-170 in June
2012, Lakeland had no local
property tax. If approved, the
special property tax increase
would go into effect July 1,
2015.
Many in the audience at
August 14 Board of
Commissioners Meeting
seemed to believe that 100%
of the current $0.85 property
tax voted in 2012 was
funding schools, when in fact
only 15 cents goes to school
operations, 10 cents to school
capital improvements, and 60
cents to city of Lakeland
capital projects. This
information was met with
grumbles from the crowd.
According to Lakeland
Mayor Bunker, Lakeland
City Attorney Chris
Patterson has advised that the
issue of a special tax increase
While the focus has been
on a need for space for
Lakeland’s middle and high
school students, Lakeland
Elementary will be at or near
capacity within three years,
as indicated by numbers put
together last Spring by
Horrell and based on a
4.75% rate of growth. Once
Lakeland Prep is opened, the
approximately 180 Lakeland
students currently zoned for
Donelson Elementary in
Arlington, will return to
Lakeland Elementary. As of
August 25, Lakeland
Elementary, with a capacity
of 1050 students (including
two portables) had an
enrollment of 843 students
according to Horrell.
Horrell said that while
there is no immediate plan,
discussions with the board
have included solutions that
are relatively inexpensive
and he does not foresee any
need to request a second
property tax increase for a
new elementary school.
“We are exploring options
for how to handle anticipated
gro wt h a t La k el a nd
Elementary School,” Horrell
commented. “If the funding
is approved for Lakeland
Prep, the most obvious
options would be to shift fifth
grade up to the new facility
or to add classroom space to
LES. The first option would
be cost neutral and the
second option, if determined
to be the best approach,
would have to be undertaken
within our present revenue
structure.”
Horrell added that the
current Lakeland Elementary
has plenty of room on site for
an addition; funds for
expansion could be taken
from either the school
system’s capital reserve of
the current property tax or set
aside from the sales tax.
The Lakeland Board of
Commissioners & Board of
Education will host a series
of public meetings with
various Homeowne