by Matt Wright
When the school system was created in 2013, there was only a need for one office, for one employee, Superintendent Dr. Ted Horrell. Those days are now long gone for the growing Lakeland School System.
At Monday’s school board business meeting, there was a preliminary discussion about the possibility of building a new central office in the Lakeland Town Square development. The new development is located at Highway 70 and Seed Tick Rd.
The idea of a new central office for the school system has been discussed for years. With the existing city hall serving as offices for both city employees, as well as school system employees, space is extremely limited. Those problems will compound as the school system continues to grow as the new Lakeland Prep High School comes online in August of 2022.
The idea stems from a recent Board of Commissioners meeting where they discussed the possibility of donating some land in the development to the school system for a future central office. The city has a plat of land in the development which can be used for future city needs according to a long standing agreement between the city and the developer. Commissioner Wesley Wright said he believes that plat would be a good option for the Lakeland School System. Commissioner Wright told Lakeland Currents, ”I think the presence of our Lakeland School System administrative office is a perfect complement to the Lakeland Town Square concept. It makes it more complete.” He added, “The location is situated between the two school locations and the ease of walkability to local dining is a bonus.”
The school system would need to fund the construction themselves and School Board Chairman, Kevin Floyd, said while he is interested, he does not want to spend money on a project like this until the high school is open. “We want to make sure the high school is done right before we consider a project like this,” Mr. Floyd said.
The school board unanimously agreed on a resolution that indicates they are open to discussing the possibility of a move with the board of commissioners. School board member Laura Harrison made it clear the resolution simply gives permission to hold discussions and in no way obligates the school system to relocating.
Dr. Horrell was excited about learning more and exploring the subject but he also issued some caution. “Would we be open to the possibility of land being donated by the city for a future site? Absolutely.” However, Dr. Horrell reminded the board there’s still much work ahead saying, “But we would have to do some due diligence to determine if it really even meets our needs and we have not done any of that (yet).”
