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Arlington & Lakeland’s Community Newspaper
Historic Days for Municipal Schools
OUTSTANDING STUDENT
Local Systems Take Control of Buildings on June 2, Plan Future Growth
Story & Photos by Terry Louderback
“We’re just getting
started!” — Lakeland
School System Board
Chair man
Ke vi n
Floyd’s comments at
the June 3 Ribbon
Cutting Ceremony for
the new municipal
school system would
prove to be prophetic
ones.
Just two hours later,
the five members of
the LSS voted unanimously to present the
Lakeland Board of
Commissioners with a
two-phase, seven-year
Capital Improvement
Plan (CIP) that would
include an immediate
request for the construction of a middle
school and the consideration of building a
high school at the end
of the seven years.
Presented to the
board as “Option A,”
the planned middle
school would be a
100,000 sq. ft. facility
housing 1,000 students
on approximately 18
Lakeland Elementary School Principal Joretha Lockhart is all smiles
as she cuts the ribbon celebrating the transfer of Lakeland Elementary to the new Lakeland School System.
acres with a total projected cost of over
$16.6 million.
The proposed Lakeland middle school
could be structured as
either grades 6-8 or K8. If the latter option is
chosen, Lakeland
Superintendent Dr.
Ted Horrell commented that the current
Lakeland Elementary
School could also be
reconfigured to serve
grades K-8.
Floyd commented
that while he “really,
really, really” likes the
idea of Lakeland having a K-12 system,
moving forward with
the construction of a
middle school seemed
to be the best move.
Floyd added that he
feels it is in the best
interest of the city to
have that eventuality
of building a high
school “on the radar.”
While Lakeland and
Arlington currently
have an interlocal
June/July 2014
theview
theview
agreement for Arlington to educate Lakeland’s middle and high
school students, board
members expressed
concern about what
could happen at the
end of the seven--year
agreement if Arlington
schools are full with
Arlington students.
“There is no clause
for after the agreement
expires,” Floyd informed the board. “It
would be negligent not
to plan for afterwards.”
Arlington Mayor Mike Wissman displays one of four new dedication plaques presented to
the Arlington Community School Board to commemorate the municipal system at the June
2 meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
In 2013-14, Lakeland sent 541 middle
school and 663 high
school students to
Arlington.
Those numbers are
expected to increase,
however. In fact, both
communities anticipate
significant housing
and student population
growth. At a May 20th
board meeting it was
reported that the City
of Lakeland has a
current inventory of
300 lots approved &
ready to build with an
additional 1500 approved, but not yet
buildable.
Land Advisor Doug
Swink also presented
the board with six
target areas in Lakeland that he identified
as potential school
sites based on land
availability and student
populations. No site
selection decisions
were made at the meeting, however.
Planning and construction of a middle
school could take three
years from land negotiations to being ready
for students., which fits
in with the three-year
termination
without
penalty clause in the
interlocal agreement.
While notification of
terminated was discussed, no action was
taken.
Arlington High’s Anita
Norman Named 2014 Poetry
Out Loud National Champion
Special to THE VIEW 38002
Local high school
student receives
$20,000 award in
national poetry
recitation contest
From a competitive field
of 365,000 students
nationwide, Anita Norman,
a student at Arlington High
School won the title of 2014
Poetry Out Loud National
Champion at the National
Finals held in Washington,
D.C., on Wednesday, April
30, 2014. With this
achievement, Norman
received a $20,000 award
and Arlington High School
received a $500 stipend for
the purchase of poetry
books.
Norman’s final recitation
Wednesday evening was
“Let the Light Enter,” a
poem by Frances Ellen
Watkins Harper. Norman
also recited Stanley Kunitz’s
2014 Poetry Out Loud
National Champion Anita
Norman of Tennessee.
Photo by James Kegley
“The Layers” and Robert E.
Ha yd en’s “Mo urni n g
Poem for the Queen of
Sunday” at the Wednesday
evening finals. When asked
about which poem a person
should recite, Norman said,
“The poem should make a
statement and be a piece of
who you are.” Listen to a
conversation with the 2014
Poetry Out Loud champion
Continued on page 16
Inside this edition...
Independence Day
Celebrations — p. 2
Candidate Q&A for Key Shelby
County Races — p. 8
News from Area Schools
Starts on p. 12