Since it's been almost 6 years after 1.8 came out, I think we should change our version (1.8 will still be possible to connect, but it will be not focused on the server).
Mojang will very unlikely take considerations of the older versions, like 1.8, since it's released in 2014, and since 1.13, the code changed very drastically.

If we prioritized a newer version, like if possible, 1.16, or even just 1.15, it would lessen the problems with maybe lag and compatibility issues (e.g: lagging on iron bars cuz you're on 1.12 where iron bars are no longer cross shaped but the server's on 1.8 and the server thinks it's a cross).