DERMOTT — Kendall Wallace’s future has been clear to him his entire academic career.
The Dermott High School senior is hoping to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy after he graduates in May. He aims to play football there as a running back, his position for four seasons as a Dermott Ram.
He credits the football team and his time on a 120-yard-long field smack in the middle of the Arkansas Delta for helping pave his path into the Air Force.
But just as Wallace, 17, begins preparing for a life outside high school, he knows that his teammates - many of whom are just like brothers - may not have the same opportunity to play Rams football next season.
The school’s football and yearbook programs are on the chopping block as the Dermott School District seeks about $700,000 in budget cuts to stay off the state Board of Education’s fiscal-distress list, School Board members and residents learned this week.
Cutting the programs would save the district about $58,000 annually, said financial adviser Norman Hill of Monticello, who has been hired by the district to help guide school officials through the economic crunch.
He has told School Board members that even if theyvote to ax the yearbook and football, “massive personnel cuts are still going to be needed to avoid fiscal distress.”
Dermott has lost 170 students in the past six years, resulting in about a $1.5 million economic loss for the district, Hill said. The district now has about 419 students.
The Dermott School District employs 111 faculty and staff members, including bus drivers.
The board voted 4-2 on Tuesday to table a vote that would consider eliminating the football and yearbook programs.
Hill said that since that decision wasn’t made this week, notification letters about possible layoffs will be sent to two employees whose salaries roughly equal the cost of keeping the programs in place. He did not specify in what area the two employeeswork.
In April, the board will again discuss the possibility of cutting the programs, as well as personnel.
Once the employees are given their letters, Hill said, they will have an opportunity for hearings before the School Board.
“You will have to decide whether to cut their jobs or cut the football team and yearbook programs,” Hill told the board. “You are going to have to make some tough decisions in order to save this school. Cutting these programs could save a couple jobs.”
Several board members asked if other programs could be cut to save the two jobs and the football team and yearbook. Hill replied that the district’s budget is already “bare bones, and I don’t see any other way we can do this and not fall intofiscal distress.”
One reason for the district’s budget woes is a declining city population.
Dermott’s population has shrunk from 3,733 in 2000 to 2,316, according to current U.S. Census figures.
The city sandwiched between thousands of acres of fertile Arkansas Delta farmland has been dealt heavy economic blows ever since mechanized farming became popular in the early to mid-20th century, Mayor Floyd Gray said.
Gray, who is serving his fourth term, said saving the school is one of the town’stop priorities.
“Everyone here wants to do everything possible to keep this school open and financially sound,” Gray said.
“People don’t want to cut athletics because these programs drive the school system and attract students. It gives them some incentive to strive forward.”
More than 200 people gathered at the School Board meeting to show support for the football team and yearbook.
Lucinda Milton, whose 11th-grade son plays football for the Dermott Rams, said the players are like an extended family.
“We are all just worried about our kids not having football in their lives,” Milton said.
“You know, some kids, that’s all they have to look forward to, and without that, we could start seeing some of them getting into trouble.”
Milton suggested that the district cut administrative staff members to save money, leaving the football program alone.
The Rams play in the 2A-7 East Conference, and though their record has been less than stellar over the past several seasons - they’ve won just six games since 2006 - pride runs strong among team members.
Milton, Wallace and others there feel that the football team is being unfairly targeted.
“Who wants to go to a school without sports programs?” Wallace asked.
“And many administrators don’t understand that certain students may not be smart enough to get an academic scholarship, but if they are good at sports, then they can get a scholarship that way.”
Dermott Superintendent Alton Newton has refused to comment, directing all questions about the district’s financial issues to Hill.
Hill’s defense when confronted by angry parents about the cuts is this: He has been hired by the district to look at all possible cuts to help save money and avoid districtwide fiscal distress.
School districts placed in fiscal distress must develop and comply with a state-approved financial-improvement plan. They are barred from incurring expenses without state approval.
Districts are given two years in which to solve their financial problems or the state Education Board is obligated by law to take action against them.
“Tough decisions must be made,” Hill said.
Attendance at football games has been sparse, he told the board. Last season, games attracted an average of 183 paying customers.
In addition to football, other extracurricular activities at Dermott include boys and girls basketball, boys and girls track, band, choir and cheerleading. Fewer than 100 students participate in those activities, according to schoolstatistics.
As for the yearbook, Hill told the board that students should produce it instead of a professional printing company.
“It won’t be of the same quality, but it will still be something the kids can have and keep,” he said.
Yearbook adviser Roger High said eliminating the yearbook won’t save the school any money because it’s paid for with advertising dollars and book sales. And “even though we are $1,700 in debt right now,” as Hill pointed out to the board, “the yearbook publishing company has been working with us, and we have a deal in place that will allow us to pay off any money owed over the next couple of years,” High said.
Fundraising efforts have already begun to pay that bill, he added.
Like Milton, High advocates cutting administrative positions instead of programs.
“We do not have many activities in Dermott, whether at school or in the community, to keep the students positively engaged,” High said.
“In recent years the school has eliminated baseball, girl’s softball, tennis, golf, choir and other programs. Without positive activities to keep the students engaged, I am afraid that some either transfer to other districts, pushing us even closer to having to consolidate, or they will get into trouble.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 14 on 02/28/2011