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The levy evolution/Editorial, A4

"A community committed to academic excellence, dedicated to student success" is the motto of the Lakeland Joint School District.

Lakeland serves 4,301 students in 11 schools in the Rathdrum/Athol/Garwood area — six K-6 elementary schools, two junior highs, two traditional high schools and one alternative high school.

Its buses drive 3,100 miles per day to transport students across a wide geographical area. Participation in athletics and extracurricular programming is high among its students. Lakeland is also the largest employer in its community, providing jobs for more than 600 employees and 100 guest teachers.

On March 9, voters in the Lakeland School District will be asked to vote on a $9.5 million-per-year, two-year replacement levy that will provide the district with about $19 million in those two years. This levy is replacing the current $8.9 million-per-year levy, which expires at the end of the school year.

"This is nearly a third of our budget, so we don’t talk about ‘if’ this passes, we talk about ‘when this passes," Superintendent Becky Meyer said in a recent meeting with the Press editorial board. "People in this district value small neighborhood schools, they value reasonable class sizes, they value the family feel and they don’t want to be like surrounding districts and have large class sizes and big huge schools. The voters have overwhelmingly continued to support these instructional levies because they value what’s coming from it."

In an informational video on the district's website, www.sd272.org, CFO Brian Wallace compares his tax bills from the past couple years to explain how although the levy is slightly more than the 2019 levy it is replacing, tax rates are not expected to increase. In 2020, his tax bill was $2,500 and his Lakeland portion was $628 - $109 cheaper than in 2019. This is for two reasons, he said.

“We collected less dollars on our bond levy," Wallace said.

The last bond to pass in the district was a $14.2 million bond in 2005 used to build Twin Lakes Elementary.

"Our bonds are starting to get paid off, so we don’t need to collect as much to make our bond payments," Wallace explained.

The second reason tax rates are not expected to increase with the approval of the March 9 levy is growth.

“That growth is driving down tax rates, which, if the dollars are flat, reduces everybody’s tax bill,” Wallace said. "For 2021, we're estimating, since we’re really keeping our dollar collections flat, that everybody's tax bill will either be the same in real dollars as last year or should go down slightly. But we do not anticipate significant increases."

Lakeland School Board Trustee Michelle Thompson, who represents Zone 3, said the district is "not asking for money to go above and beyond what we’re already providing."

"We just want to maintain what we already have," she said. "That’s the reality of the levy."

Levy funds help keep classes small and schools close to home. They support teachers and students by providing programs and services to meet student needs. They address staff, student, parent and patron priorities. They support athletics, theater programs, choir activities.

"If you look at the research on students that are involved in extracurricular, any kind of extracurricular, graduation rate goes up, success at college goes up, grades go up, drug use goes down,” Meyer said. "There is so much proactive and preventative measures that it helps for students in their character. I could go on and on and on."

Levy funds also help pay for all-day kindergarten that is free for families, and armed guards to enhance safety in the schools. Lakeland is the only district in the state with armed guards and presently employs three, with the goal of hiring a fourth.

Meyer said the No. 1 goal with this levy is to increase voter turnout and disseminate information to as many people as they can.

In the last couple elections, only 17% of parents in the district turned out to cast their ballots.

"It really matters this year,” Meyer said. "We have to fight complacency. We should be having 90% to 100% of our parents vote because they care that much about how great the education is in our district."

Absentee ballots are available for the March 9 election. The deadline to submit an absentee ballot is Feb. 26. Visit www.idahovotes.gov to request an absentee ballot.

Levy info: www.sd272.org