Group Wants School Board To Vote Again On Center

— The Bentonville School Board will be asked today to vote again on the decision to put a ninth-grade center option before district voters.

The board will meet at NorthWest Arkansas Community College at 6 p.m. in the Peterson Auditorium of the Shewmaker Center for Global Business Development. Members of the Bentonville Committee for Better Education plan to ask during the public input portion of the meeting that the board vote again.

The board voted 4-3 against building a second high school during its regular meeting last month. The board then voted 5-2 vote in favor of building a ninth-grade center on the current Bentonville High School campus.

A 3.8-mill increase to fund the ninth-grade center is to be put before voters in April. If approved, the center is expected to cost $63 million. The 315,000-square-foot building will hold 1,500 students.

The millage increase will have a property tax impact of $150 every year on a home costing $200,000.

AT A GLANCE

Limitations

Seth Blomely, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Education, said, in an email Friday, that he could not give a definitive legal opinion on what limitations about a school board could face on voting on a question a second time, but he did send a passage from Arkansas law:

“A majority of a quorum voting affirmatively shall be required for the passage of any motion or resolution.” Ark. Code Ann. § 6-13-619(c)(1)(A).

Source: Staff Report

Susie Poindexter, co-chairwoman of the Committee for Better Education, said she hopes the board listens to the information the committee plans to present.

“We have double-checked their research, we have done our own, we have critiqued their numbers, this is well beyond an emotional, passionate plea,” Poindexter said.

The committee hopes the board at least decides to table the ninth-grade center plan and review the information presented today, Poindexter said.

“This never went through the Facilities Committee, they discussed a ninth-grade option and second high school, but a motion never came out of facilities for it,” Poindexter said. “I think they need to slow down and make sure we are on the right track.”

The committee is lining up a group of parents and community leaders to present information to the board today, Poindexter said.

“We wanted to make sure we covered every angle,” Poindexter said. “We have parents who are speaking and they are speaking as parents and some have a professional prospective. We want the board to see that it isn’t just parents saying ‘We want a second high school,’ but that there are reasons why we need it.”

The committee has canvassed community events and knocked on doors to attain signatures for a petition that will be presented during the meeting. The petition states those signing want the school board to vote in favor of a second high school. It also states those signing will vote against a millage increase for a ninth-grade center.

Poindexter could not say how many signatures are on the petitions since many are still being passed around the community.

A tweet from the committee’s Twitter page posted on Nov. 4 said: “1,000 Voters Signed Petitions at First Friday Tonight!! Keep Up the Great Work.”

The committee, on their website, bentonvilleparents.com, has encouraged the public to attend today's meeting.

College officials said they were alerted that a large crowd may attend the meeting.

“The event organizers have met up with our folks to ensure that the most people can attend the meeting as possible,” said Mark Scott, college public relations director. “We had an event here (in Peterson Auditorium) with 150 people a couple weeks ago and so we know we can get at least 150 people in there.”

School Superintendent Michael Poore said on Thursday district officials were working to get an agenda ready for the meeting.

“We know we are going to have a very engaged community, and that is positive,” Poore said.

Poore said several items will be on the agenda, including the Facilities Committee’s recommendation to spend up to $1 million on architectural designs for the ninth-grade center.

Sterling Ming, the district’s financial director, said the recommendation is to use no more than $1 million for the architects to complete 30 percent of the designs by April.

The architectural work would allow the building to open by August 2014, Ming said.

The money will come out of the district’s operating fund until the millage election takes place, Ming said. He said if the millage is approved, bond money will replace the operational funds spent. If the bond fails, the district will use reserve funds to repay the operation fund.

Ming said he projects the district will receive $117,350,222 in revenue this year. He said the district will spend $117,337,809 — leaving a $12,413 balance in the operating fund. The district started the year with an $8.5 million fund balance, along with a $9 million reserve fund.

The district may also receive an additional $10 million of revenue, this year, Ming said. Student growth money from the state and local taxes were not included in the district’s operating budget.

The School Board will also review a recommendation from the Personnel Committee to use $200,000 in reserve funds to create 11 positions. Two of the positions are administrative. The others are support staff.

The positions include a continuous and innovation director with a salary of approximately $80,000 and an intramural coordinator for $65,000. Together the 11 jobs will cost the district around $375,000. If approved, the jobs will start being filled in January, meaning the district will not have to take the employees’ full salary out of reserve this year.

Upcoming Events