Lakota board hears EdChoice voucher briefing; association asks district to join statewide lawsuit

At the March 4 meeting Lakota Board of Education members heard a county and statewide briefing on the EdChoice expansion voucher program and an invitation from a coalition of public-school advocates to join pending litigation challenging the program's constitutionality and funding.

Kevin (association leader) introduced a team that included attorney and public-school advocate Andy Wilson. Wilson described the litigation history and the coalition's request that districts pool resources to support legal work. "I've got to be a public school advocate because the public schools are really the foundation of our society as a whole," Wilson said as he summarized the lawsuit's status and potential statewide impact.

Presenters and district staff said Lakota ranks high in the state for EdChoice-expansion voucher usage and that the eligibility threshold expanded in the most recent biennial budget (presenters described the threshold as 450% of the federal poverty level, which they estimated at about $140,000 for a family of four). District materials circulated at the meeting showed a large and growing local voucher count; presenters said the statewide EdChoice expansion payments were hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years.

The coalition asked Lakota to join the suit for an approximate commitment of $2 per student, which presenters said equates to roughly $33,000 for the district. Kevin told trustees the association is willing to share the cost. Andy Wilson described the lawsuit as having multiple counts, including a claim that vouchers and the state's approach to funding undermine the constitutional requirement to provide a "thorough and efficient" system of common schools and that the program lacks sufficient accountability.

Board discussion ranged from requests for additional data to suggestions to invite state legislators for a public briefing. Trustee Kelly Casper said she supports joining the lawsuit: "I would I I I think Lakota should join the lawsuit," she said, while other trustees expressed interest in hearing legislators' plans before committing. Adam (district staff) noted he would update enrollment and per-voucher payment figures and that some numbers circulated in the meeting packet were corrected during the discussion (presenters initially used a per-voucher average near $4,186 and Adam said an updated average would be $6,573.53).

The board and presenters discussed local impacts the group labeled "opportunity costs"—money leaving the district through voucher payments plus state dollars that no longer flow into district operations—and the difficulty of accounting for services the district still provides to private-school voucher students (for example, transportation and, where required, special-education services). Presenters warned that increased voucher payments and eligibility could shift more funding responsibility to local taxpayers.

Next steps: presenters asked the board to consider joining the coalition; trustees asked staff to seek more granular data on which private providers serve students from Lakota, how many voucher students previously attended Lakota schools, and to attempt to schedule a public question-and-answer session with local legislators (board members and presenters discussed a tentative March 12 meeting at 6:30 p.m.). The board did not vote to join the litigation at the March 4 meeting.

Ending: Staff will update and circulate corrected payment and enrollment figures, pursue data-sharing with private providers and state sources where possible, and attempt to schedule a public briefing with legislators before the association's March 11 deadline for a decision.