FAYETTEVILLE — A national recession has made once-predictable voter behavior unpredictable, forcing leaders of two Northwest Arkansas school districts to retool facilities plans to build the public appeal necessary for bond issue approval.
Last week's record breaking turnout in the Fayetteville school election brought the defeat of a proposed 4.9-mill tax increase to fund construction of a new high school. The Fayetteville School Board now plans to revisit the design, location and size of the building in hopes of drafting a plan that will allow for a successful second millage campaign.
"We need to be very careful as we proceed because going in one direction can push as many away as it can bring to you," board President Susan Heil said.
One county north, the Bentonville School Board in October will discuss holding a millage election within the next year to fund facilities for the rapidly growing district. In March 2008, voters rejected a 3.99-mill increase proposed to fund $209 million in new facilities, including six schools that would have opened within five years.
A mill is one-tenth of a cent, generating $1 of property taxes for every $1,000 of assessed value. A county assesses property at 20 percent of its appraised value, and the assessment is multiplied by the millage rate to determine the taxes owed.
Voters in both districts are typically supportive of education, Bentonville Superintendent Gary Compton said. But continued economic uncertainty has led school leaders into uncharted waters as they draft proposals for voter approval.
"These are very difficult times right now," Compton said. "It's territory that we haven't crossed in a long, long time. Here you have communities suffering significant defeats on items that we both see as very essential."
A BALANCED TIMELINE
If Fayetteville voters consider a millage issue again within six months, the district can still use low-interest bonds provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to finance its new high school and keep interest costs down, finance director Lisa Morstad said.
The district is set to receive $54 million in qualified school construction bonds provided through the federal stimulus plans.
Purchasers of the stimulus bonds, which are administered by the U.S. Treasury, will receive tax credits in lieu of interest, keeping the cost down for districts that use them.
Assuming the bonds carry a 1.5 percent interest rate, Fayetteville Public Schools could save $63 million in interest over the course of repayment compared to a standard, 5 percent interest bond, Morstad said.
"My biggest concern is that six-month window," she said. "I just think it's such an opportunity, and I'd hate for us to lose it."
State law allows school districts to hold one bond election each calendar year. Pending Arkansas Board of Education approval, the earliest Fayetteville could hold another election is January.
The Arkansas Department of Education has $113 million of qualified school construction bonds to distribute in 2009. If Fayetteville misses the six-month window, the district could reapply for the bonds under the 2010 allotment.
"But I think we'd have significant competition if we waited," Morstad said.
But Heil said the six month timeline may be unrealistic. Holding another election without properly addressing voter concerns could lead to another failure and even more delay in starting school construction.
The stimulus funding "is way too much money to walk away from it and not try to make that happen," Heil said. "But I don't want to do it again too fast to where we leave things on the table and not handle it well."
SCALING BACK
Bentonville intentionally waited more than a year so that the School Board could retool its plan before risking another defeat, Compton said.
Recognizing the difficulty of passing large bond issues, the board hired a research firm to survey the community to find weak points in its plan.
"Ours two years ago caused sticker shock," Compton said. "The lesson learned is whatever we do, it certainly needs to be a lesser amount."
Community members also expressed concern about building a second high school, which came at a price tag of about $99 million, he said.
To reduce the $209 million plan, the board instead will consider meeting its immediate facilities needs, planning for a middle school, two elementary schools and a solution to crowding at the current high school.
Bentonville for the past few years has been at or near the top of the list of the state's fastest-growing school districts. Its schools gained 841 students, a 7.5 percent increase, for 2007-08, bringing total enrollment to 11,959 students. The district gained 1,100 students for 2005-06. Though growth has slowed in the past two years, administrators estimate about 500 additional students will be added to the district's official enrollment for the current school year. The official count will be taken Oct. 1.
The growth has filled classrooms and hallways at the high school, which will soon reach 4,000 students.
After the last millage failure, School Board members urged the district's facilities directors to park portable classroom buildings next to the road so that residents could see the need for morebuilding space.
Growth was a greater motivator for Northwest Arkansas residents when the region's job creation and real estate values were growing alongside its schools, Compton said.
"It's hard for me to say we're growing when everything else is shrinking," he said.
The board will now consider retooling high school plans by building a smaller second high school or creating a separate freshman building near its current campus.
HISTORIC RESPONSE
The path to voter favor is less clear in Fayetteville, Heil said.
The decisions that led to the current high school plan - maintaining one school, keeping the school on the current site and incorporating ecologically friendly design elements - came after years of discussion and sometimes contentious public meetings.
Board members agree that they need to revisit those major decisions, but they aren't sure how far back in the multiyear process to go before creating a new plan, Heil said.
"We like the plan we have," she said. "We don't want to change that plan and not have any outcome from it."
The board will explore precinct trends from last week's election to determine which demographic groups were less responsive to the plan, but they know each plan will lose some potential "yes" votes.
"Fayetteville is known for its debate," Heil said. "I don't know that Fayetteville's ever going to have a landslide anything."
Community interest in the millage campaign was evidenced by voter participation.
Washington County Clerk Karen Combs Pritchard said turnout was the highest of any school election in the county's history. More than 10,000 voters - 24 percent of registered voters - cast ballots.
In 2005, a far smaller number of voters rejected a 4.8-mill increase for technology and teacher pay. That election brought out 4,152 voters, 11 percent of those registered.
"It's absolutely the highest turnout we've ever had," Combs Pritchard said. "This election really stirred people up." To contact this reporter:
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7, 14 on 09/21/2009