![lakeland junior senior high school lakeland junior senior high school](https://3.files.edl.io/94f6/18/12/03/151838-d5f91d53-6083-4496-9825-97208c4d5faa.jpg)
![lakeland junior senior high school lakeland junior senior high school](https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4087/4964933171_e4aa8dbebe_b.jpg)
![lakeland junior senior high school lakeland junior senior high school](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/X30jMN5xRLY/mqdefault.jpg)
"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. They support athletics, theater programs, choir activities. They address staff, student, parent and patron priorities. They support teachers and students by providing programs and services to meet student needs. Levy funds help keep classes small and schools close to home. "We just want to maintain what we already have," she said. 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." But we do not anticipate significant increases." "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. “That growth is driving down tax rates, which, if the dollars are flat, reduces everybody’s tax bill,” Wallace said. The second reason tax rates are not expected to increase with the approval of the March 9 levy is growth. "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 last bond to pass in the district was a $14.2 million bond in 2005 used to build Twin Lakes Elementary. “We collected less dollars on our bond levy," Wallace said. In 2020, his tax bill was $2,500 and his Lakeland portion was $628 - $109 cheaper than in 2019. In an informational video on the district's website, 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. The voters have overwhelmingly continued to support these instructional levies because they value what’s coming from it." "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. "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. This levy is replacing the current $8.9 million-per-year levy, which expires at the end of the school year. 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. Lakeland is also the largest employer in its community, providing jobs for more than 600 employees and 100 guest teachers. Participation in athletics and extracurricular programming is high among its students. Its buses drive 3,100 miles per day to transport students across a wide geographical area. 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. "A community committed to academic excellence, dedicated to student success" is the motto of the Lakeland Joint School District.