I am just adding posts the webpage now .. The District wants a new $6,000 parcel tax. Here’s the nuts and bolts facts about the Lakeside School.

The Lakeside school board is planning a new $6,000 parcel tax but is keeping it a secret from taxpayers like you unless you are also a voter. The board needs about 700 votes come November to pass this new tax. The current tax passed by only 15 votes or so in 2017 and expires next year. So the bottom line is that we can defeat this tax with a little concerted action and publicity.

Okay .. here are the egegious things the Trustees are doing:

1. They are keeping the new tax a secret from the owners of the 300 forest wildlife preserves in the district. These are the small unbuildable lots that the Trustees farm for tax revenue of $647 a year. These owners can never get a senior exemption like those that live in homes on the district. There are usually about 1000 voters in the district but there has not been a Board election since 2008. The Trustees have just been appointing their friends because no one else has run. But this year John Miller is set to seek and seat on the board. He is one of the owners of these unbuildable nature preserves.
2. The Trustees spent $70,000 for a consultant to send two glossy mailings to voters in the last few months to prep them to vote for the new tax. It says the that the school needs more than $500,000 in additional tax every year to stay open and pay teachers. They do not mention that this $500,000 is actually needed just to pay the administrators .. the superintendent and his two staff.. an executive assistant and a principal. These three admin people the board thinks is necessary to operate a school of just three classrooms and 60 students. I am posting on this site some of the documents and letters from the district that describe these facts.
3. The Trustees want to spend $2,777 every school day to administer the five classrooms. There are only five regular teachers for kindergarten through 5th grade at the school. There is also a special Ed teachers who has a separate classroom. So there are six teachers and sixty students but the Trustees want to spend $2,777 each day to pay three non-teaching staff to run this operation. Mind you this does not include the cost of paying the teachers.

More to follow soon .. right now I am trying to contact voters and taxpayers to connect to fix the fiscal situation at Lakeside .. we cannot have the district spending like it is and jeopardizing the sustainability of the school.