EDUCATION STILL AT ISSUE IN LAKELAND ELECTION
Lakeland vote centers on education
The future of education in Lakeland and the money to pay for it will impact September’s elections for two Board of Commissioners seats and two seats on the Board of Education.
The debate over the future of education in Lakeland is expected to be a major theme in the suburb’s September elections, even though some candidates are saying there is more to the campaign than schools.
Both sides — those who wanted new schools and those who balked at taking on the debt to pay for them — have candidates running for two commission seats and a pair of spots on the Lakeland Board of Education. The four offices are the only ones on the Sept. 16 ballot for Lakeland.
“My hope is it is not a one-issue thing based on schools. It’s time to move past that,” said Michele Dial, a commission candidate who supported school funding.
Plans to construct a $50 million school — Lakeland Prep — serving grades 6-12, near U.S. 70 and Canada
Road, divided the suburb as commissioners proposed a 55-cent property tax increase last fall to fund the campus. But a groupof opponents, under the banner of Concerned Citizens of Lakeland, gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on the bond issue for Lakeland Prep and soundly defeated the issuance on April 16. City commissioners countered the referendum defeat by approving construction of amiddle school for grades 5-8 at an estimated cost of $20million.
The Board of Commissioners adopted the same 55-cent property tax hike to cover the cost of the middle school at the same campus site.
Despite the party line regarding community wide campaign issues, ignoring schools as the separation between the candidates is difficult. Two candidates in each race have spoken in favor of spending for schools, while the other four on the ballot— Larry Pardue and Justin Smith for commission seats and Susan Miller and Mica Partain in the school board races — have the backing of Concerned Citizens of Lakeland, said Stephanie Lefler, one of the group’s leaders. But Lefler said the group’s campaign stance is about whether citizens are represented by those in office. Still, that question is borne in the effort to fund new schools.
“At the root of everything, of course, is schools,” Lefler said, while adding that solely basing the campaign on schools is oversimplifying thematter. “It’s about a complete lack of planning and shoving through their agenda. It’s about how they have carried out whatever it is they told us they were going to do.”
Pardue said his stance is not an opposition to schools — a common refrain by thosewho defeated the bond issue — but rather avoiding significant debt to a city of almost 13,000.
“It’s as much about taxes as it is about schools. We’re all for schools, but we’re about doing it the right way,” Pardue said.
Several candidates steered away from suggestions they are running as a group. School board member Teresa Henry, the only incumbent seeking re-election, said a strong education system benefits more than just younger families with school-age children.
“To me schools are a great thing for a city,” she said. “They stabilize property values, and they help people without kids.”
Thosewho opposed the bond issue and the cost of the schools contend the timing is not right for Lakeland to deal with repaying the bill. Higher taxes will drive away people or stifle the city’s growth, they say.
Some said they were bothered by elected officials continuing to pursue the property tax increase for schools despite the referendum vote, with Lefler characterizing the direction as “foolhardy.” Proponents say schools encourage growth, particularly if the city provides schools for kindergarten through high school.
“I hope everybody running wants what’s really good for Lakeland. What’s going to keep us out of financial trouble,” Pardue said.
Dial said the campaign should encompass the overall needs of Lakeland.
“I’m ready to move beyond that ‘yes-people, no-people’ thing,” Dial said. “We’re all Lakeland residents.”