Workshop focuses on more mills for schools

Little Rock School Board members focused on a millage campaign to fund nearly $500 million worth of improvements and buildings during a workshop Friday.

The six-hour workshop session came just days before the School Board's Thursday meeting, when it is expected to receive final recommendations for building, expanding and repairing school campuses. The School Board has not made any decision on draft plans presented by the Fanning-Howey architecture and engineering firm of Indianapolis.

Some of the plans for the 26,000-student district include a new west Little Rock middle school and a replacement school for McClellan High in southwest Little Rock. The proposal also includes the relocation of Cloverdale Middle to the current McClellan building and the addition of large classroom wings to Central High and Dunbar Middle School, with smaller additions at several other campuses.

On Thursday, the School Board should accept the report with the understanding that there may be changes, Superintendent Dexter Suggs said Friday.

"If everything goes well, this project will have to be done in phases," he said. "It's going to have to be piecemeal."

School Board members questioned Suggs, who has been involved in nearly half a dozen referendums in Indianapolis.

Once the School Board accepts the report, the seven-member board would almost immediately form several committees, including steering and accountability committees, that would include the public, he said. Through the committees' work, the School Board will eventually decide which facilities projects to fund and how many mills to ask for in a special election.

Currently, the tax rate in the district is 46.4 mills. One mill, which equals one-tenth of a cent, produces about $3.2 million, district Chief Financial Officer Kelsey Bailey said.

Bailey presented the School Board with three different millage increase scenarios Friday -- one raising the tax rate by 2 mills, another by 2.5 and the last by 3.

Those increases could raise between $100 million to $151 million, according to Bailey's estimates.

Bailey also told the School Board that it could restructure the district's current debt, which could generate an additional $16,634,352.08.

If the School Board decides to pursue a 3-mill tax increase, restructure the district's current debt and contribute $5 million, it could have nearly $291 million in its construction fund, Bailey said. A 3-mill increase would add $60 annually for an owner of a $100,000 home.

The School Board doesn't want to make a decision on a possible millage increase now, Suggs cautioned. If it made the decision, there would be no need to go to the public, he said.

Board member Dianne Curry said she wanted to include public comment and also to hear from the McClellan student body on some the facilities improvements.

"We need our public to pass whatever we do in the future," she said, saying that the School Board would have to go to the communities for funding support.

The district has had "dozens" of public meetings in the schools, Board President Greg Adams said.

"We have not left them out," he said.

Board member C.E. McAdoo voiced his concerns that the School Board would even consider the final recommendations before setting a budget.

"I think we would be derelict to recommend anything before we know what our budget looks like," he said.

But Suggs said any revenue from the tax rate would go into the capital project fund, which is restricted to improvement projects.

Aside from the financing, the facilities plan is further compounded by the Sept. 16 School Board election. The election could change the membership of a board that has been working on the facilities study for about a year, Adams has said.

Board members Jody Carreiro and Norma Johnson are both running for re-election to the board in contested races. Joy Springer, who is challenging Johnson, attended Friday's work session; Jim Ross, who is challenging Carreiro, did not.

The latest facilities plan also includes the addition of activity space at the elementary schools -- most of which do not have gymnasiums -- along with art and music rooms. Also proposed is the addition of as many as 50 classrooms at Central High, along with 24 classrooms each at Dunbar Middle, Henderson Middle and Mabelvale Middle schools. Forest Park, Mabelvale, Otter Creek and Pulaski Heights elementaries would also add classrooms, according to the plan.

The plan also incorporates building repairs, roof and utility system replacements, more security features and the installation of air conditioning to cafeteria kitchens at 25 of the schools.

Metro on 08/23/2014

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