ADAMS TWP — Mars Area School Board voted Tuesday, May 2, to join a class-action lawsuit against social media companies, including Meta Platforms, Facebook Holdings, Snap, TikTok, YouTube and others.

“Basically, some of these social media sites really need to be regulated more,” superintendent Mark Gross said.

The lawsuit posits that accessibility to these applications, as well as increasing exposure to negative content on them, has had a direct effect on students’ mental health and well-being over the years, according to Gross.

“So (the plaintiffs) are trying to parallel that with the rise of mental health issues among children,” Gross said.

He emphasized that, like the recent nationwide class-action lawsuit against vape company Juul, there would be no cost to the district for participating in the suit.

“Both of these lawsuits do not incur any cost to the district — they’re being sponsored by private companies, so we’re just joining in,” Gross said. “So if something is won, nothing is lost.”

Also like the Juul lawsuit, any money received from the settlement would be used by the district for education on the harms of social media and for “preventative measures.”

Business manager Debbie Brandstetter presented the district’s proposed 2023-24 general fund budget, which includes a 4.15-mill real estate tax increase.

“The district is growing; we talked about that last year,” Brandstetter said. “The last millage increase was in (2018-19) when there were 3,288 students and an increase of 31 students over the five-year period prior.”

Within that five-year period, Brandstetter said, the average increase was six students per year.

“When you look at (2023-24) and those five years back, that’s an increase of 351 students, so an average of 70 students per year,” Brandstetter said. “So I don’t want to recommend a tax increase, but when we look at the numbers, it’s kind of catching up now with the students that we’re seeing moving into the district and the needs of additional staffing to cover those expenditures.”

The increase would raise the district’s real estate tax millage from 101.376 to 105.526.

Board member Megan Lenz said the increase would meet the bare minimum of what is needed to maintain the district.

“When you hear that your taxes are going up, you immediately think, ‘Oh they’re going to tax people out of their home,’ but we’re talking about $10 a month for the average homeowner to be able to have enough teachers to keep class sizes at a reasonable level,” Lenz said.

The final budget will be voted on at the board’s May 9 meeting.