The Lakeland School Board (LSB) met for a business meeting last night (3.4.19) at City Hall, the only session they will have in March.
The regular work session was cancelled because of spring break next week.
Link to agenda: https://lakelandk12.org/res/web/03.04.19%20BM/03.04.19%20Business%20Meeting%20Agenda.pdf
Link to Livestream: https://livestream.com/lakeland/events/8588799
Board member Geoff Hicks, TLN (Tennessee Legislative Network) representative, reviewed the Board’s Feb. 18-19 visit to Nashville to meet with legislators and TSBA (Tennessee School Board Association) members. He later asked Dr. Ted Horrell, Lakeland School System (LSS) superintendent, to review projected and actual enrollment numbers at LMPS (Lakeland Middle Preparatory School).
Mr. Hicks said he wanted to pat the LSB on the back for the trip to lobby for changes for Lakeland and Tennessee schools. He said Gov. Bill Lee has proposed $40 million to be invested in school security and school resource officers. “I’d like to think we played a small part in that,” said Mr. Hicks. The LSS included school safety in its 2019 legislative agenda which was delivered to TSBA and legislators last month.
Since the LSB trip to Nashville, Mr. Hicks said there have been several inquiries about educational savings accounts which are essentially vouchers in a different form. Gov. Bill Lee, in his State of the State address last night, proposed a $25 million pilot program for school vouchers.
Among other items Mr. Hicks is following post-Nashville visit are the following bills:
- ACT Suite of tests as a substitute for TNReady testing, stalled.
- Reduction in allotment of time for standardized testing, still in play.
- Elected director (superintendent) of schools, stalled.
- Funding for more school nurses, funding format to be changed.
He also is tracking a bill dealing with funding for teacher salaries. He said the BEF (Basic Educational Program) formula would be based on the minimum number of teachers required for the maximum classroom size.
In his questions about projected and actual enrollment at LMPS, Mr. Hicks noted there is a lot of speculation on social media about those numbers. He asked Dr. Horrell for the specific numbers to quell misinformation spreading on various websites. LSS has historical, current and forecasted numbers for its two schools, updated last month.
LMPS opened in August 2017 for grades 5-8. Lakeland Elementary School (LES) serves grades PK-4. Lakeland high school students attend Arlington High School through an interlocal between the two cities until a high school is built in Lakeland.
Mr. Hicks said for both school years at LMPS, the projected numbers of students has been low. Dr. Horrell explained the difference for 2018-19, saying the higher numbers are due to turnover of existing homes in Lakeland. The July 2017 projection for LMPS, as provided by Nedra Jones, the demographics expert shared by all of the municipal systems in their first three years of operation, was around 700 if all students in grades 5-8 attended LMPS. Dr. Horrell projected that 600 students would enroll in the first year based on the intent forms collected by Arlington Community Schools the spring before the new school opened. The actual enrollment numbers at LMPS for the first school year were:
- August 2017 – 665 students on the first day of school
- May 2018 – 720 students when the first school year at LMPS finished
A year later, July 2018, Dr. Jerome McKibben was contracted to provide demographic projections for LSS. His projection for the total number of Lakeland students at Arlington Middle and Lakeland Middle Prep was 778. After factoring in the number of students expected to remain at Arlington Middle, LSS internally used a projection of 720 for initial staffing purposes. The actual enrollment numbers were:
- August 2018 – 779 students began the LMPS school year
- February 2019 – 801 students at LMPS
In 2018, Dr. McKibben predicted the 2020-21 enrollment would be 796 Lakeland students in grades 5-8. A year later in February 2019, based on actual enrollment in 2018-19, Dr. McKibben predicted that the 2020-21 number would be 858.
Dr. Horrell said the projected numbers reflect all Lakeland students in grades 5-8, whether they attend LMPS or Arlington Middle School. “We assume all students will come back and therefore track all the students,” he said.
February 2019 LSS Population and Enrollment Forecasts for 2019-20 – 2028-29
In the February-released 18-page LSS Population and Enrollment Forecasts (2019-20 to 2028-19), some details from the report:
- For 2020, the largest age group of Lakeland residents is expected to be ages 45-49.
- The population pyramid provided is based on 2010 census numbers.
- The enrollment charts show historical, current and forecasted numbers for Lakeland K-8 students.
- The final sheet posted with this story shows historical, current and forecasted enrollment for grades 9-12 of Lakeland students.
See pages from the report:
In other business, the Board approved March budget amendments, updates to two policies (the tobacco-free schools policy was amended and then approved) and an LMPS Soccer Club.
In his monthly report, Dr. Horrell said online registration continues for returning students and in-person registration is March 26th.
He said assessment season is gearing up and the State is providing “stress tests” on the testing system. He said Lakeland is part of the preparation process.
There is good progress on the expansion at LES, he said. And work should be starting in 6-8 weeks on bleachers at LMPS.
He congratulated the newly formed boys’ soccer team at LMPS who tied their first game last week with “a well-respected Collierville team.” Dr. Horrell noted the boys-team is new at LMPS because it was something the students and parents said they would like.
The 5:45 p.m. meeting ended 24 minutes after it started.
