Thanks to the Kansas Legislature, Lawrence school board members have an opportunity to raise additional local property taxes to fund next year’s school district budget.

But just because they can doesn’t mean they should.

Budget-wise, this will be a much happier year for the Lawrence school district. After several years of cutting staff and reducing funding for various activities, board members this year will have a little breathing room in building the budget.

The state’s school finance package will give the Lawrence district about $4.3 million more than it received last year. That’s a sizable increase in the district’s $61.6 million general operating budget.

The district also has an opportunity to raise its local option budget (LOB) levy to provide an estimated $960,000 more for next year’s budget. That money would come directly from local property taxes.

Given that school district patrons already have committed to $63 million in bond issues to replace South Junior High School and make improvements to other schools and district technology, local taxpayers might appreciate a break on the LOB levy. It might be nice to have almost $1 million more to work with this year, but with $4 million already being added to the district budget, maybe it would be prudent to keep the additional local tax dollars in reserve for a year or two.

There are, of course, potential pitfalls to this idea. For instance, the state currently requires districts to have maxed out their LOB authority in order to receive supplemental state funding for new construction projects. The money is based on the number of students affected by the new construction, and Supt. Randy Weseman estimated it could amount to as much as $1 million on a project like South Junior High. If that restriction remains in effect, it would provide a significant incentive for Lawrence to raise its LOB levy.

Another possibility is that if the LOB authority isn’t used this year, it might be lost next year. That seems unlikely, but it’s a consideration.

After several years of lean funding, the district faces many demands. Energy costs and insurance rates have risen significantly in recent years, and technology must be continually updated, but staffing and salaries probably will be the largest issue.

As the district squeezed its budget, teachers accepted minimal raises for the last few years. The influx of new dollars, however, will raise teachers’ salary and benefit expectations this year, and most district patrons would agree that as much of the new funding as possible should be dedicated to higher teacher salaries and to maintaining enough staff to meet the board’s class-size goals.

Rewarding teachers is a high priority, but, as some board members already have noted, so is being respectful of the local property tax burden. Barring special circumstances, passing up the immediate opportunity to raise the LOB levy probably would buy the district considerable good will with local taxpayers.