Teachers and digital‑media specialists urge board to place operating-levy renewal and capital levy on November ballot

Several district employees and parents used the public‑comment period to urge the Lakeville Area Schools Board to place an operating levy renewal and a capital levy on the November ballot.

Lisa Aldridge, a third‑grade teacher at Highview Elementary and Lakeville resident, asked the board to approve the operating‑levy renewal and to add the capital levy to the fall ballot. Aldridge said the operating levy funds elementary art and fifth‑grade band and helps keep high‑school class sizes lower; she noted that fifth‑grade band was cut in 2011 and later restored and said the district “cannot afford to cut fifth grade band and art again as we did back in 2011.”

Two district digital‑media specialists described current classroom uses of iPads and other technology and urged support for the capital levy to sustain device access and expand college‑and‑career readiness programming. Hillary Morlock, a digital‑media specialist at Cherry View and Orchard Lake elementaries, described first‑ and second‑grade students using Keynote to create digital books with voiceovers and fifth‑grade students using Numbers to collect and graph data. Mary Cashley Smith, digital‑media specialist at Lakeville South High School, said district access to iPads (a result of a prior tech levy) levels the playing field and supports reading, media literacy, AI literacy instruction and podcast/video projects in ELA and social studies.

Speakers asked the board to weigh the classroom impacts of funding choices and to support measures that keep arts, class‑size protections and technology available to students. There was no board response during the public‑comment period; board policy and the meeting agenda note that the administration will follow up outside the meeting for matters requiring action.