Letters about the high school

By Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted: September 13, 2009 at 7:06 a.m.

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Fayetteville's future needs your vote

I am in favor of the citizens of Fayetteville investing in both our children and our community's economic future by passing the 4.9 school millage increase. We need a new high school. Our present high school no longer meets the needs of our students as a result of space limitations, building layout, limited technological capabilities, and security questions.

The choice for a single high school at the current site was made by the school board only after significant community input supporting these decisions. Similarly, the decision to go to a ninth-through-12th-grade model was based on community work which included a review of research on this option. The ninththrough-12th-grade model is very common in the United States.

Our proposed new high school will cost a lot of money but not without good reason. The cost to construct a new school conforming to the 2008 state standards is approximately 20 percent higher than those constructed to pre-2008 standards. This is largely a result of the standard requiring more square footage per student. Additionally, construction cost inflation has impacted the estimated cost of our new school versus those built in the last six years by our neighboring communities. The estimate for the cost of our new high school is consistent with the national average cost of new high school construction. These are economic realities. One would hope that final bids will be lower than projected, allowing us to retire the bonds and sunset the mileage increase sooner. However, that possibility aside, I believe Fayetteville should focus on the big picture - we need a new high school.

We have had a long, inclusive planning process which has resulted in a proposed high school located on a time-tested suitable site. The proposed school has been designed for and will be equipped to support our student's educational needs for many years to come. Our community has said we want high quality economic growth and to attract companies requiring knowledgebased jobs. This new high school, with its capabilities, can and will support those objectives. We need to invest in our children's future and our general population's economic welfare.

I believe our superintendent,Vicki Thomas, our school administrators, and our school board will be good custodians of the investment.

I ask you to join me in supporting the school millage increase on Sept. 15.

Greg Lee - Fayetteville

Growth and prosperity on the line

The impact for passing the Sept. 15 millage will have a profound and positive effect for our students, our teachers and our community.

The Fayetteville school millage rate is actually less today (42.8) than it was in 1995 (44.0) due to statemandated rollbacks in our community. All the revenue obtained during this time frame allowed for building, remodeling and renovation without a rate increase for 14 years.

The millage increase will not only provide a badly needed state-of-theart high school (and LEED certified), it will provide a needed economic stimulus to our city and local businesses during these challenging times. It will be a valuable asset for the present and future to help businesses grow, recruit businesses to locate to our city, and help our outstanding city's continued growth and prosperity.

I urge you, the voter, to go online to the Fayetteville School District's Web site and view "The New FHS." You can still tour the current facility to see for yourself the challenges faced for all. You can contact your school board members and ask questions to obtain more information. Our school board has worked diligently to move ahead with a plan to meet the needs for the 21st century and provide us with a facility that we will all be proud of inthe end.

Again, please vote "For" our new high school.

Barry D. Herzog - Fayetteville

Effort devoid of logic, reason

Education is not about the bricks or the buildings. Education is what takes place in the hearts and minds of the students. Penn State University Professor Steven Peterson said as much in his recent speech at the University of Arkansas. Professor Peterson's findings that school construction spending does not have a measurable effect on student performance cannot be refuted by the Fayetteville School Board.

There are many skeptical residents who support education and the need for a new high school(s), but not a $116 million school on the current site. Unfortunately, the FSB has transformed this need into a want for an oversized "wow" project, apparently for "bragging rights."

For centuries philosophers have identified schools as where students learn to apply logic and reason to different facts. Ironically, the FSB's analysis of the need has been devoid of logic and reason. Oddly, once the $50 million offer from the University of Arkansas mysteriously vanished, the FSB has been performing Olympic-style gymnastics to explain the current plan. We are all familiar with the numerous omissions, contradictions and inaccuracies in the analysis that still remain. Instead of debating or explaining lingering issues, the FSB resorts to general rationalizations such as "it's an investment in the future," "education at any cost," the very contagious "wow" and "it's for the kids," that, while perhaps politically correct, are insufficient justification. The result again is that the FSB has transformedthe need into a want.

What message is actually being sent to students (future taxpayers) and the public when you throw fiscal responsibility to the wind and begin building oversized monuments with taxpayer money?

It is important to understand that you are not voting on whether a new school is needed or against education, but whether it should cost $116 million. A vote against the tax simply means the FSB can revisit the cost and offer another referendum in 2010.

Therefore, one basic question remains that each voter must address truthfully which will determine whether you are voting for or against a new tax for a $116 million new school: Are you voting to meet a need or catering to a want? The former is for students, the latter is perhaps for you and the desire to be perceived as bigger and better then other schools and communities, whatever the cost and level of effectiveness. To paraphrase a famous ad slogan, education is priceless, but "bragging rights" will cost you $116million, plus interest, for 35 years.

Michael Wulf - Fayetteville

What does a no vote achieve?

Thank you for the thousands of column inches you have devoted - for four years - to the future of Fayetteville High School. A review of the hundreds of articles, columns, and letters to the editor on this subject suggests that we are a community with both a greater-than-average commitment to promoting excellence in education and a higherthan-average number of ideas about how best to do that.

In my view, those are both good qualities that - after much pushing and hauling - have led us to a plan that addresses many legitimate, and competing, concerns.

The folks supporting one high school - in the interest of a richer curriculum and community unity - will get one school, but students (and teachers) will spend the great majority of each day in smaller learning communities of fewer than 500.

Similarly, the advocates for theaddition of ninth grade to the high school campus will get it but with the caveat that, except for those students taking advantage of a more advanced curriculum, freshmen will spend the day mainly with other ninth graders.

In terms of location, the people who wanted a brand new, modern facility will get one. But the new high school will remain in its current location, promoting fiscal responsibility (we'll save at least $10 million in not rebuilding our athletic facilities and millions more by using our city's existing infrastructure) as well as continued access to our city library and the University of Arkansas. We also thwart sprawl.

While these concerns have been reconciled, there remain some whose dissatisfactions have not been addressed: those angry about one or more decisions made by our former administration. Several friends have argued, powerfully, that it is tempting to "send a message" by voting no on this measure (as many did with the defeat of the 2005 millage).

The problem, it seems to me, is that voting against this new, hybrid high school - which, finally, has earned the support of homeowners and business owners, big and small school advocates, suburbanites and urban core dwellers, liberals and conservatives - will not undo any of the past decisions that were so upsetting to so many.

For now anyway, Bates, Jefferson, and West Campus all will remain closed. Owl Creek will remain open. Vandergriff will remain crowded. The teachers will teach an extra period each day. You can name your disappointment; voting "no" on this millage won't fix it.

Rather, voting against the new high school guarantees only that another one, or two, or five years will slip by with our students and teachers "making do" with crowded hallways and inadequate cafeteria, choir and band space.

By voting FOR the new FHS on Sept. 15, we can take the high road and open ourselves up to a new relationship with a new administration. And, of course, we will be putting the very real needs of our students and teachers first.

Janine Parry - Fayetteville

Millage proposal is misguided

I highly value an educational environment that stimulates students to learn and grow, but I am opposed to the millage increase to build a new high school. Fortunately, the proposed millage increase would not be burdensome to my family, but it is not the right way to spend $100 million-plus of Fayetteville taxpayers money.

What I have trouble with is the notion that a new building will somehow stimulate students to learn and grow, as if this isn't being accomplished now. People, not buildings, are the backbone of our educational system. Sure, a new high school would be nice to have, but the cost is not proportional to the benefit. Instead of spending $100 million-plus of taxpayer dollars on a new high school, what if we took $10 million and incentivized our faculty to motivate and engage their students to learn. Our teachers are underpaid and in large part left to their own devices to stimulate andencourage their students.

If our goal is a better education for our students, then building a $100 million-plus is like buying an airplane before you have a pilot's license. Let's get behind our faculty and help them help our children learn. There are students throughout the United States and the world who receive wonderful educations from facilities much more lacking than our current high school. In each of these schools the teachers make the difference, and that is where we need to spend our tax dollars - not on the proposed state-of-the-art, multipurpose arena, outdoor amphitheater, or performing arts center.

Let's reevaluate our priorities and spend this money to support our educators in their pursuit of imparting knowledge - not for a building we can point to.

Bob G. Smith - Fayetteville

The price of a civilized society

As you reported in a recent news article, I plan to vote for the Sept. 15 millage to rebuild Fayetteville High School, and I urge other area residents - parents, grandparents, retirees, business owners, professors, teachers, etc. - to do the same.

More than 50 years ago local people paid to build a state-of-the-art facility that has served generations of high school students in our community. As a teacher and coach at that time, I was so proud of our community. Today, it's our turn to step up and build for future generations.

A new Fayetteville High School will mean adequate (and long overdue) space for the choir and other performing arts, more classrooms, better-equipped learning environments, state-of-the-art resources for our student population, and a renewed commitment to academic excellence for our fine city.

I may be retired and my own children may have graduated long ago, but I continue to believe that "taxes are what we pay for a civilized society." A first-class high school is something we owe to our children and our community. And, frankly, it's long overdue.

Please support our kids and vote for a stronger Fayetteville on Sept. 15.

Harry Vandergriff - Fayetteville

Proposal deserves our rejection

After four years of research and planning, we are still unsure of what our new high school will look like, and how it will function to educate our children. Our school board has been changing their collective minds and their researched-based committee decisions over and over again, and mistakenly believes Fayetteville is now ready for the vote.

From the sketches available, the new FHS looks like a conglomeration of buildings crammed into the current, insufficient 40-acre space. (As a comparison, the new Happy Hollow Elementary will be built on 30 acres, and its enrollment is 388.) The Northwest Arkansas Times recently reported that the district isn't even sure how ninth grade will be assimilated into the new school, or exactly how these "small learning communities" that will be built will be designated. It's all very confusing. But, not to worry, another consulting firm will be hired by the district to help us sort things out. Common sense would dictate that some of these issues could have been worked out in advance of the millage vote, and once decided, have functionally influenced the design of the new high school.

Also, are you aware that an extra $3million of your taxpayer dollars will be raised with the proposed millage for a contingency fund "since the construction will involve challenging terrain, as well as students present during construction?" Just where does the district plan to put 2,000 students while they tear down and rebuild? Not an ideal learning environment for the students who attend FHS from 2010-2013, but rest assured, because the district will have money set aside in case of any emergencies.

Finally, parking is a huge problem at the high school. Only juniors and seniors are allowed to purchase permits for the 575 spaces, and there are several students on a waiting list. If your sophomore is required to be at school before or after normal school hours when no bus service is available, he/she will still not be allowed to park at FHS. The principals have already ticketed cars parked next to Harmon Field with warnings to tow or boot those without permits, however many who park there are sophomore athletes who need to drive to school due to practice. How many student parkingspaces will there be at the new school to alleviate this major inconvenience and safety issue? It is hard to tell since details of our 21st century school are not yet available.

Do the extraordinary FHS teachers and our high-achieving students deserve a new school? You bet they do. But, if you vote "yes" just because you believe Fayetteville needs a new high school, and this millage passes, you might be disappointed with what you get for your money. Let's not settle for anything but the best. This $115 million FHS proposal is definitely not it.

Suzanne Wasiluk - Fayetteville

Let's support the millage

I am voting for the millage to fund construction of a new Fayetteville High School. The plan settled on by the school board is not the plan I had supported or hoped for; however, my personal disappointment did not alter the facts. The high school, in its present form, is no longer adequate to support the needs and activities of faculty and students.Our faculty and students should have the benefit of a teaching and learning environment which supports and enhances the exceptional education already being provided.

It is this community's responsibility to ensure that our faculty's efforts are supported and that our students' education and experiences at FHS equip them to leave the confines of FHS and move into the broader world confidently and with opportunity. Fayetteville has been a leader in education in our state. Let's not stop leading now. Voting yes for the millage is an investment in the lives andfutures of our young people for years to come, not just bricks and mortar. For more information about the FHS project go to fayar.net. Please join me in voting yes to the millage.

Nancy Cozart - Fayetteville

Fayetteville deserves better

Please vote for the millage increase on Sept. 15 in order to save money. Yes, I believe that this is our opportunity to build a 21st century high school at a lower cost than will ever be possible. Many economists and financial forecasts report that a prolonged period of inflation is on the horizon, which would add significantly to the construction costs of this much-needed facility if the millage increase does not pass and the plan is delayed. While the $100 millionplus price tag seems high to some, it is the average cost of new school construction nationwide.

This cost estimate is also the result of a lengthy period of study and planning, many hours of citizen input, and an intense review process. A new high school will serve to reduce overcrowding in the lower level grade facilities while providing a first-class center of learning to help meet the educational needs of our students for years to come. If we do not approve this now, I believe that we will look back with regret for having missed the opportunity to build this state-of-the-art school at a time of reasonable costs.

David Russell - Fayetteville

Fine art programs are suffering

One of the many reasons to support a millage for our new Fayetteville High School is its effect on the fine arts.

Our top-ranked band had to rent Har-Ber High School last spring for the final band concert because they cannot fit on the stage in our auditorium. You also cannot even get the whole marching band in the band room! They are good enough for the Rose Bowl and the Macy's Thanksgiving parades, but we don't have room to house them in our auditorium or in the band room?

Our award-winning choir will rent the Springdale Performing Arts Center for their first choral concert this fall for the same reason. How many of you saw the spring choral performance where the choir students were squished shoulder to shoulder while trying to do the choreography in their opening showcase of "That's Entertainment"? You couldn't even see most of the students on the stage.

Our drama department put on fabulous performances of "Bye Bye Birdie" this past spring that left the audience smiling and singing. Their cast size is limited due to the size of the stage, so fewer students are given the opportunity to participate. Our fine arts department is not able to even consider large, wellknown musicals such as "Oklahoma," "Fiddler on the Roof," or "West Side Story" because there is no space for the choreography, set construction or storage, nor room for a pit orchestra. We don't even have enough seats to sell for tickets to help offset the cost.

Our fine arts students are limited because the facility is small and outdated. Students are missing out on opportunities to learn to manage a stage, construct sets, run a sound system, run stage lighting, design and make costumes, perform and other skills that could lead to successful careers for students.

I know that the fine arts department is not the only department that suffers from this ill. Many areas of FHS have parallel situations.

We have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the future of our children and to our own future as a community. We have an incredibly supportive community, extremely talented local resources, a fabulous FHS faculty,a strong university next door and stellar students now and to come. Our kids deserve the finest education that we can provide. Whether it is your child, your grandchild or your neighbor's child, this millage will provide a facility that is right for our youth!

If this millage doesn't pass, how many years of graduates will we have to wait for the next time. We need a new school now!

Our new high school can bring our entire community together as we build for the future of Fayetteville by investing in the education of our youth. Let's do what's best for the kids! Vote yes on the new FHS! It's an investment that will payoff.

Vernon Richardson - Fayetteville

Why rejection makes sense

It's nearly election eve, and signs all over town are telling us that we're voting for our students and for a stronger Fayetteville. We'll be voting to give our students years of dirt, noise, and the inconvenience of construction. We'll give all our future students the plague of big-city traffic congestion because the biggest employer in the city, the University of Arkansas, intends to grow by adding thousands of students and hundreds of employees. Is this a heritage or a punishment we're voting for our students?

We are going to make Fayetteville stronger by the old medical technique of bleeding. We're going to bleed it of tens of millions in both dollars and existing assets.

First, the master plan has a new building contingency fund of $3 million to pay for both "difficult terrain" and "students on construction site." (Three million dollars could easily buy a new site away from heavy traffic and the present student commons on Martin Luther King Boulevard.)

Second, we have $44.8 million in building assets on the present site, according to minutes of the February 2008 school board meeting. About $30 million-plus of these buildings will be bulldozed for the new buildings. If a day before the bulldozing started, a tornado took out all those buildings, the district would collect $30-million plus.If the tornado came a day after the bulldozing, nothing! Thus, the real cost of Arkansas' newest, most expensive high school is really $140-$150 million in actual dollars and assets, not $110 million. We should feel stronger already. Also, the present site is much better suited for:

1. Commercial use. (The six acres of frontage as identified by the master plan is worth millions, as shown by Chickfil-A, which paid $1 million for their lot down the street.)

2. A renovated junior, or smaller, high school. (That $30 million-plus saves from demolishing sound buildings, a real reduction of traffic, and $3 million saved on a contingency.)

3. Rentable parking places for university students, and the eventual sale to the university of the land not being used by a smaller, renovated school.

4. A new site could add much beauty to the new high school. In all honesty, if you or I had $1 million to spend on building a new home, would you really build it facing Martin Luther King Boulevard with its strip malls and railroad trestle view?

Election time gives us a choice: We can each get stronger by each individual working harder to pay the new taxes to cover wasted assets and dollars, or we can get stronger collectively by saving millions and let those millions of dollars work for us. It's now up to those who pay the bills. Vote yes for how much they will spend and waste, or vote no on wasting so we can be offered a more careful plan on which to vote.

Gary Taylor - Fayetteville

Voters should think twice

Whoa Nellie! Who is driving this wagon? Are we jumping into the unknown? The voters of Fayetteville are being asked to approve the construction of a new high school funded with a 4.9 mill increase for property owners and the promise that all will be well. First, it was $83 million, then $113 million and now $115 million for 35 years. The plans are to build at the present site with the latest environmental innovations. Sounds wonderful, but where is this final plan? Who is to build this, and what are the final projected costs? I see a big difference between $83 and $115 million cost factors. Why the large gap? My memory of major projects in this town brings to mind major cost overruns, delayed timelines - and guess who pays for them? The taxpayers!

Yes, we do need a new high school and we are all for supporting the students and teachers. Yes, all our taxes will increase considerably with the 4.9 mill asked, and the future needed mill increases for other projects and additional real property increases. I suggest if you haven't looked at the personal tax cost related then you should. The senior community is protected after age of 65 with a frozen property value, but not against mill increases.

I admit that I did not participate in the discussions related to location of the high school or the plans presented. I would have asked if we need to relocate the ninth grade, why not update the current high school and place the eighth and ninth grades there. This could help to ease some classroom space for the lower grades. The recent remodel of Butterfield Elementary is a fine example of sensible applications of funds, and a terrific update for that school.

Why do we keep running down the same road that Fayetteville is only located between the UA and downtown/ Dickson Street area? Yes, we are proud of these facilities, the library, the art center and the recreational activities, but there are other areas of our community that would serve as well. Why not consider a less-expensive location to build this needed facility upon and perhaps one that is owned by the community now? I understand part of the problem with building at the present location is in fact that the location is difficult and more expensive to build on. It has been suggested to place new construction over old foundations. Where is the space for future needs when that becomes a reality?

We appear to be in the panic mode, as we are in search for better health care for all, but that is another subject. Why not pause, take a deep breath, step back and listen to the calm of our beautiful community? We need to take the path not taken and ask for a drink of soothing sensibility. It will be a better tomorrow for all.

Judy McIntire - Fayetteville

Do the right thing

The Fayetteville School Board has given due diligence to all decisions regarding the new high school. Over the course of four years, the residents of Fayetteville have had ample opportunity to make their opinions known. There was spirited, and sometimes contentious, debate regarding key components of the overall plan. Regardless of your viewpoint, the decisions to add ninth grade and to keep the school at its present location have been made. It is now time to move forward with the construction phase of this plan. This can only be accomplished with the approval of the proposed millage.

I recently toured the current high school and was amazed at the undersized and outdated facilities. I've seen larger cafeterias in elementary schools! The additions and upgrades over the years served their purpose, but they do not set the stage for successful learning into the future. The new high school will provide a setting that is prepared to adapt and grow through the 21st century.

Some detractors from this plan are rightfully concerned about potential surplus revenue from the millage and how the school board will choose to deploy it. Keep in mind that the language about surplus revenue contained in the millage request is required by law. Anyone who has ever participated in a construction project of significant size knows that the exact cost cannot be determined up front. Contingency funds simply have to be available. It is imperative that the citizens of Fayetteville remain engaged with the school board throughout the construction process to ensure that our hard-earned tax dollars are spent judiciously.

The school board has been thoughtful and resolute in its commitment to doing the right thing for the students and educators in Fayetteville. Now it is our turn to do the right thing and vote in support of the millage on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

Adam Parisi - Fayetteville

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