SCOTT TWP. - After months of deliberation, the Lakeland School Board has selected a $17.4 million renovation plan, but it will be up to the taxpayers whether it moves forward.
The plan will potentially repair urgent deficiencies, as well as provide "long overdue" renovations throughout the district, according to board member Stanley Stracham.
"The only way you can pay for it is to raise taxes," he said. "If we do not ask that question of the public, we're at a standstill."
Before the public is asked to support a proposed 10-mill tax increase, the school board will distribute a survey to the community. That survey, which will lay out the details of the renovation plan and gauge support for the project, will be sent out by Aug. 1 with tax bills.
The board was unsure of the procedure of tabulating the results of the surveys at a meeting July 18, but they will be shared, said board President Mary Retzbach.
"We're going to publish the results obviously," she said.
The 10-mill increase would translate to about a $120 increase in the typical tax bill, said business manager Brian Cooney., The money would fund renovations in all academic buildings, the field house and build an addition to the high school.
The addition would create a separate wing for the seventh and eighth grades and expand the music rooms. Renovations would include paving, doors, windows, updated restrooms, boiler replacement and new telephone infrastructure.
The items of greatest need, which include the leaking high school roof, heating systems in the gymnasium and outdoor lighting, will be addressed before the survey.
In June, the board approved a motion allowing Superintendent Margaret Billings-Jones, Ed.D., to secure a $3.5 million bond to repair those immediate needs.
"We take a chance of the heat not working," Ms. Retzbach said of the sole remaining heating unit in the gymnasium. "We've been rolling the dice on that for a long time."
Beyond those repairs, the board will rely on the public to determine the scale of further renovations.
Some citizens voiced their support at the regular July meeting, but not all attendees were convinced.
"If the insurance company thought it was a serious problem, they wouldn't have renewed our coverage," Rose Canick said, in reference to the state of the buildings.
Regardless of the referendum though, Ms. Retzbach said the board intends to move forward with renovations. The board will submit the project to the state Department of Education before a moratorium on reimbursing new school construction projects takes effect in October, she said.
If the board decides to pursue a referendum and the public does not approve it, she said they will be able to scale back to the project throughout the planning process, but still have a chance at state reimbursement for part of the cost.
Since 2006, just one of six proposed referendums for building projects has succeeded in Pennsylvania, said David Davare, Ph.D., director of research services at the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
"Most people don't have a point of reference for what $1 million is," he said of why he believed they failed. "The number becomes so large for some people that it becomes a great fear."
Walking around the building, not all needs are apparent, said Mr. Stracham.
"It's the stuff we don't see," he said, referring to internal and mechanical issues he called "big dollar" items. We also need "to take care of the necessities of today."
Despite voicing a need for upgrades and repairs, some board members had concerns at a work session on July 10.
"In other districts, teachers are being furloughed and programs are being cut. That's why I'm hesitant," board member Jill Yoniski said. "I'm not going to support it without the public."
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