By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer contributor

LIBERTY TWP. - A freshman school to house only Lakota East High School students would be built on Bethany Road if voters approve a levy next March.

It is part of a facilities plan that would be paid for with proceeds from an 11.67-mill combination levy the Lakota Board of Education voted Monday to put on the March 2 primary ballot.

The issue includes 9.3 mills for day-to-day operations and a 2.37-mill bond issue that would fund the $84.9 million facilities plan.

The new freshman school would be built on a 42.8-acre site west of Interstate 75 and north of Bethany Road with access off Bethany. The board agreed Monday to buy the land for $1.14 million.

Money to pay for the land is coming from the general fund, and the $44.5 million bond issue voters approved three years ago that paid to build Lakota Plains Junior and VanGorden Elementary schools. Proceeds from the 2004 bond issue would repay the general fund portion of the purchase price, said Alan Hutchinson, district treasurer.

Under the plan, the existing freshman school would only house students who would go on to attend Lakota West.

A new elementary would be built on Linn Road along with two others to replace Union and Liberty elementaries. Liberty would be updated and converted into an early childhood center. Hopewell would be expanded so part of it would be used for preschool and kindergarten.

The new schools are projected to open in 2006.

The 9.3-mill continuing levy portion of the combination levy would raise about $21 million annually once collections begin in January 2005. Taxes on a $150,000 house would increase by $536 annually.