BENTONVILLE -- The School Board on Monday approved spending $1.3 million for 48 acres on which it plans to build the next elementary school.
The property at 9002 S.W. Featherston Road is east of the Riverwalk Estates and Quailridge subdivisions and just north of Southwest Regional Airport Boulevard. The price comes out to $27,669 per acre. That includes 10 acres being donated to the district.
West High School
The Bentonville School Board on Monday approved opening West High School with grades nine through 11 when the school opens in August 2016. A recent poll of class of 2017 families showed more than 90 percent of those students wanted to finish and graduate from Bentonville High School. That means the class of 2018 — this year’s freshmen — will be the first class to graduate from West High School.
Source: Staff Report
Documents related to the pending transaction identify the seller as the Coughlin Family Revocable Living Trust, with Cynthia Coughlin identified as the trustee. Coughlin is a former Bentonville School Board member. She last served on the board in 2003.
Coughlin is the wife of former Wal-Mart executive Tom Coughlin. In a statement sent to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette by Annex Communications, Cynthia Coughlin said they are "delighted" to work with the board on securing land for new schools.
"We believe this will be a good location as it is adjacent to 26 acres that Tom and I donated to the City for a park. This is an exciting time of growth in Northwest Arkansas, and we are pleased to be a part of it," the statement read.
Board members were unanimous in their approval of the land purchase. Rebecca Powers was the only board member absent.
"When I drove over there and visited the first time, it exceeded my expectations," said board member Matt Burgess. "I appreciate the trust making the donation to the district."
The property lies in the city's southwest quadrant where it is experiencing much growth. The two elementary schools on the south side of town -- Willowbrook and Central Park -- are by far the district's largest for elementary students with enrollments of more than 800.
"This is a good property," said board member Grant Lightle. "That's right in the middle of the highest growth area in the district. I think it would be convenient for a lot of kids who are getting squeezed out of Central Park and Willowbrook."
District officials spent months examining land options to build another elementary school in time for the 2017-18 school year. The property the board purchased is large enough it could accommodate a middle school as well.
Jack Schreder and Associates performed a demographics analysis for the district last year. The firm recommended the district build two more elementary schools within the next 10 years, one on the north side and one on the south side. The firm also recommended acquiring a site for a new middle school.
The state requires sites for elementary schools to be at least 10 acres plus one acre for every 100 students. A middle school must have at least 20 acres plus one acre for every 100 students.
Paul Wallace, director of facilities, said the district looked at 15 properties before narrowing its pursuit to two. Access to utilities was a big factor in the search process, Wallace said.
Much of the land search focused on Bella Vista, but officials said they had difficulty finding a suitable site for a reasonable price there. The search there continues, said Michael Poore, district superintendent.
The district is working with an organization "we think has a lot of promise in terms of a potential spot" in Bella Vista, but the property in southwest Bentonville "took care of a more immediate need," Poore said.
Money for the purchase will come from the district's operational funds, said Sterling Ming, director of finance. The board recently agreed to modify its policy on the district's fund balance to say it could keep less than 17 percent of its operational budget in reserve.
Also on Monday, the board approved moving forward with the process of selecting an architect and builder for its next school. The district will invite firms to interview for the job and a recommendation will be presented to the board in April.
Board members said they were comfortable with the jobs being done by those firms the district has employed recently, but they wanted to make sure they explore all options.
"We're responsible for taxpayer money and if we don't go through the process, we don't know what we don't know," said Travis Riggs, board president.
Dave Perozek can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWADaveP.
NW News on 03/03/2015