Lakeland’s school and city leaders are building excitement for the combined middle/high school they envision opening its doors in 2018, and they invited residents to a community meeting on Jan. 15 to talk about their own visions.
About 100 citizens attended to tell just what they want to see in Lakeland Prep’s academics, extracurriculars and amenities for the building.
Dr. Ted Horrell, superintendent of education, said, “We were really pleased with the turnout and the level of involvement. … There was a lot of energy in the room.”
Teachers and other volunteers attended to facilitate the discussions. The meeting began as a large group with about a five-minute overview summarizing the school’s intent, the land and a general idea of the layout. Then citizens broke off into small groups where they each listed and discussed their top priority for Lakeland Prep.
Survey still open
For people who could not attend the meeting, the school district is also offering an online survey for a brief window.
The Lakeland Prep survey is currently online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BB35V7M but is only expected to be available for a few more days.
As of Monday morning, 168 people had already completed the survey, Horrell said.
Gathering data
Southern Educational Strategies will tabulate and organize all the input from the meetings and the surveys and present their findings to Horrell. The next step will be presenting the findings and recommendations to the board, Horrell said. An early takeaway is that technology is very important to Lakeland’s parents.
Horrell said the biggest surprise of the evening was the high level of enthusiasm, optimism and excitement sensed in the building. “It was really pretty electric. … I had one person say, ‘This is absolutely worth my time.’”
Referendum
In other Lakeland Prep news, there will be a referendum on the $50 million bond issuance. The group of citizens who have voiced their concerns over the school district’s plans and funding options did receive enough valid petition signatures to force a citywide bond issuance vote.
Next: The Lakeland Board of Commissioners and mayor will set a date for the bond reference.
Written by Carolyn Bahm, Express editor. Contact her at (901) 433-9138 or via email to bartlett.editor@journalinc.com.
