Voters are being asked to approve a 7.9-mill emergency levy that will cost voters of a $100,000 home $242 yearly for 10 years.
“The future of our community is at stake,” Taylor said. “That’s not an overstatement.”
Lakota, he said, has been ranked “excellent” by the state, but it is the district’s willingness to ensure each of its 18,500 students succeed that makes it truly stand out.
Lakota, he said, educates its students with a cost per pupil that is below the state average and with 30 percent fewer administrators, saving the community $2.8 million.
“I cannot pick and choose who and how we serve our students,” he said. “As a public school system our doors are open to every child no matter what their disability may be or what their giftedness may be, we have to serve those children.”
Teachers, he said, are a key reason for student success. While he is aware of the sentiment about public employee compensation, Taylor said change doesn’t happen over night, and Lakota is at the forefront working with its union to make changes to its salary schedule, which he said is “in the middle of the road” compared to similar districts.
Without the passage of a levy, the state takes over Lakota and the community would be in debt until it passed a levy to pay the state back.
“The state can’t run itself, so why would we want the state to come in and run the Lakota School District?” Taylor asked. “There is no money in Columbus, and I look for further cuts to occur because of what’s occurring at the state level.”
He said legislators must stop forcing schools to spend more money through mandated programs like all-day kindergarten.
“My message to Columbus is stop it. Stop it right now ... If there’s no money at the state, why are political leaders forcing districts to spend? It just doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Jacob Geers, spokesman for Teens for Lakota, said the community needs to look past the money, because in the long term, education is more important.
“Are we going to remember how our community was changed because of our willingness to embrace education?” he asked.
Parent Mark Redmond agreed, and said he moved to Lakota for the school district.
“We’re in this together,” he said.
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