Early vote on school bonds

$50 million debt a contentious issue

The emotional buildup over money and education in Lakeland reached the polls last Friday as early voting began on a $50 million bond referendum for funding a new school in the suburb.

In what has become a spirited and sometimes testy campaign, residents will decide whether the city should issue bonds for construction of the Lakeland Prep school to serve the city’s middle and high school students. The debate has covered issues from whether the smallest Memphis suburb in Shelby County needs the new school, can afford it and how the new school affects the future of Lakeland.

Bond opponents have emphasized they aren’t against education; t hey just don’t t hink t he ti ming is right for the city to take on that amount of debt.

Proponents contend Lakeland needs to serve students inside its borders from kinderga r ten t h roug h hi g h school if the city is going to keep pace in the competitive market among the six suburbs that opened municipal school

systems for their inaugural terms last August.

“I believe it’s a crossroads at this time,” Commissioner Sherri Gallick said regarding what the issue means to Lakeland’s future. “If the school is passed, t here are some developers who have said they would move forward with building,” she said. “If the school does not pass, that puts a hiccup in some of the plans.”

The Lakeland School System has only one school — Lakeland Elementary. After elementary school, students attend schools in Bartlett and Arlington.

“We t hink a guaranteed public education is at stake,” Lakeland schools Supt. Ted Horrell said. He added there is no question about the quality of education i n other sys- tems, but the prep school would provide continuity for curriculum if students attended Lakeland schools from K-12.

The cit y’s Boa rd of Commissioners approved a 55- cent increase to the property tax rate in October to fund the bonds. In December, the board approved issuing the bonds to build Lakeland Prep to serve grades 6-1 2. The city’s school board is i n the process of purchasing 94 acres near the corner of U. S. 70 and Canada Road for the campus.

However, a group of residents, working under t he t it le of Concerned Citizens of Lakeland, collected signatures through the holidays to force a referendum vote.

“What our city officials are telling us is we must risk everything beyond debt l i mits . . . to build a school years before we need it,” Stephanie Lefler, a key opponent, sa id March 26.

The campaigning i nvolved the usual accusations of signs placed contrary to city regulations and claims of campaigners putting fliers on mailboxes.

There were complaints that city officials, who favor t he bond issue, created a “home-field advantage” by recommending early voting at Lakeland Elementary.