Lakota busses to nearly 40 parochial schools in addition to its own 22 buildings, said Chris Passarge, director of business operations.
If the 10-year, 7.9 mill emergency levy passes, taxes will increase $242 per year based on an assessed $100,000 home.
Whichever way private school families decide to vote, parent Elizabeth Conner said people should not assume they automatically will vote no.
“We live in the Lakota School District, so we care about the Lakota Schools,” she said. “We don’t want neighbors in sub-par schools.”
Still, she said, the information out there has not been enough to sway a lot of people to vote yes. A lot of the positions the district is cutting, she said, already are volunteer positions at private schools.
“I think the general mind set is different from a private school to a public school as far the expectation level of parental involvement,” she said. “Our cafeteria has two paid employees, and everyone else is volunteers. All of our sports up through eighth-grade are coached completely by volunteers.”
Private school parent Sherie Brickner said she has had conversations with neighbors who are for the levy, so she understands their fears about losing programs.
But, she too wonders what would happen if school employees and volunteers did more and if the district reached out to the community for non-financial help.
Lakota touts that it can educate students for $9,500, but private school parent Adelaide Leitzel said her child’s school, St. Gabriel, operates efficiently for less money even considering the dollars allocated from public schools to pay for transportation and special services for private school students.
St. Gabriel, she said, was one of 50 private schools in the nation to earn a Blue Ribbon award for excellence.
“They’re being much more circumspect in their financial decision, but at the same time providing a quality education,” she said.
At her child’s school, Spanish is the only language taught, but it begins at the primary level.
“We can’t all have every option,” she said. “ I can’t afford every cable TV channel. I have to live within my budget. I think we are somewhat more creative in how we do more with less. Some of that is because we aren’t quite as restrained, but a lot of the requirements are the same.”
Many parents are facing pay cuts, and she said teachers at private schools make lower salaries, but seem to have more duties.
“There are really good people in Lakota, and there are individual teachers who are very good,” she said. “The union has done a disservice to them ... the union is really costing us quite a bit.”
She values Lakota’s reputation, which is the reason so many families moved to the area and housing values have remained high.
“But if you can’t afford to pay the taxes, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “It’s certainly not the same encouragement that it was (to move here) because it is so expensive.”
District Parent Council President Cheryl Conaway-Nelson said even with cuts and countless volunteers helping out, the district still needs to pass a levy. She said it is like a home budget. You can cut back on all non-essentials, but eventually you deplete the savings account and need to get a job to pay for the essentials.
“For a school district that means passing a levy,” she said. “Every district has to do it, but Lakota has to do it more frequently because of growth.”
“You can’t continue to cut and provide the services that need to be provided by professional people. Do you want a volunteer driving a bus or a person with a professional bus driving license? ... You get to a point where these are professional services that need to be provided by a professional. We’re not qualified to do that. What’s left to cut is teachers, and parents aren’t qualified to teach students.”
Liberty Early Childhood School Parent Teacher Association President Tracy Poppe said Lakota parents are stepping up in light of cuts, and at least one parent is helping out in the cafeteria every day. Parents also are in the classrooms, art room, copy room and media center due to a decrease in aides. In addition, they are helping with hearing and vision screenings. And, she said, VanGorden Elementary School parent helpers are working in the office to compensate for losing the part-time secretary they used to have.
“Parents at our school have definitely stepped up to help out this year, even taking work off to be there in some cases,” she said.
Yasmen Brown-Jones said her children used to attend a private Montessori school where she volunteered.
“I have worked much harder for Lakota over the past three years —and have enjoyed doing so — than I ever worked in the private school where my boys attended for six years,” she said. “... I was surprised to find such dedicated parents who spent so much of their time volunteering at the school and or working behind the scenes at home, while also working full-time.”
Parent Kelley Shebetka said she has a child at a private school and another in a Lakota school.
“I would disagree to the notion that more people are more willing to volunteer at private schools, and especially the idea that teachers are more willing to do more at private schools,” she said. “I have seen an abundance of volunteerism at both schools. And I have seen public school teachers as willing as any private school teacher to go above and beyond the call of duty.”
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