District officials: No plans to pay for Centerton stadium

BENTONVILLE -- School District officials, answering concerns expressed by two former board members, said there is no plan to spend taxpayer dollars on construction of a stadium at West High School in the event of a successful millage election Tuesday.

Officials have been adamant the proposed 1.9-mill tax increase on Tuesday's ballot is meant solely for the construction of four buildings -- two elementary schools, a middle school and a junior high school -- over the next several years.

Tuesday’s elections

The Bentonville, Rogers and Pea Ridge school districts are seeking millage increases in special elections Tuesday. Early voting continues today at the Benton County Clerk’s offices at 1428 W. Walnut St., Rogers; and at 215 E. Central Ave., Bentonville, during normal business hours.

The following polling places will be open Tuesday with voting by electronic voting machine only. Paper ballots will be available at the Benton County Election Commission offices at 1204 S.W. 14th St., Bentonville.

• Bella Vista Baptist Church, 50 E. Lancashire Drive, Bella Vista.

• New Life Christian Church, 103 Riordan Road, Bella Vista.

• Bella Vista Church of Christ, 989 N.W. McNelly Road, Bella Vista.

• Bentonville Church of Christ, 708 N. Walton Blvd., Bentonville.

• First Landmark Missionary Baptist Church, 206 S.E. 28th St., Bentonville.

• Reach Church, 900 W. Centerton Blvd., Centerton.

• Lakeview Baptist Church, 1351 E. Lowell Ave., Cave Springs.

• Southside Church of Christ, 919 S. Dixieland Road, Rogers.

• Central United Methodist Church, 2535 W. New Hope Road, Rogers.

• Prairie Creek Association Community Center, 14432 E. Arkansas 12, Rogers.

• Lowell First Baptist Church, 405 Johnson Ave., Lowell.

• NEBCO Community Building, 17823 Marshall St., Garfield.

• First Baptist Church of Pea Ridge, 1650 Slack St., Pea Ridge.

• Benton County Election Commission, 1204 S.W. 14th St. Bentonville.

Source: Staff report

Former board members Lisa Clark and Grant Lightle, however, recently wrote to current board members warning them against paying for a stadium at West High, which is in Centerton. Doing so would amount to a "bait and switch," Clark wrote.

Board president Travis Riggs rejected speculation the board would take such action. There is no basis for what Lightle and Clark are discussing, he said.

"I've been on this board for 13 years," he said. "I don't even know if the district has ever done a bait and switch. It's just grasping at straws to throw mud at a legitimate campaign."

Superintendent Debbie Jones echoed Riggs' comment, reiterating money raised from a millage increase would be used strictly for land and school buildings.

"The district put together a strategic growth plan and the board wanted to be sure we did not ask for one dollar more than was needed to have a seat for every child as we continue our historic growth in Bentonville Public Schools," Jones wrote in an email.

The district has various facility needs the board will have to decide how to handle, she said. As for a stadium at West High School, which would cost about $3 million, there is no proposal on the table to pay for one, she said.

Jones said she expects "private funding, individual donations and other ways to fund the effort" will be explored.

"There is no doubt that we will never have everything that we want and we will always do our best to collaborate as a board and find the best way to prioritize what is most important," Jones wrote in her email. "I trust the seven of our educated board members to properly address the questions of the future."

Riggs added there's no way to predict what a future set of board members might decide.

"If the board [membership] turns over and they seem to think they want to spend district money on athletics, that's up to them. But I have no intent to spend district money" on a stadium, he said.

The question of how to pay for athletic facilities at West High School has been around since long before the school opened last fall.

A 2012 proposal of 6.7 mills would have raised about $128 million for a high school, all of its athletic facilities and other district needs. It failed with about 58 percent of residents voting against it.

One year later, a revised proposal of 2.9 mills for what would become West High School passed easily. It did not include money for a stadium.

Lightle said the message from the public in those two elections was clear: Don't use tax dollars on building a stadium. And if there is any intention to do so, the board should have been clear about it before Tuesday's election, he said.

"They shouldn't try to hide things just to get support. They should not tell people half the story just because they think half the story is inconvenient," Lightle said.

Lightle served on the board from 2012 to 2016. He lost his bid for re-election last year to Eric White, who is leading this year's millage campaign.

Clark served for one year ending in 2014; she had been appointed to replace Riggs when he resigned but lost to Riggs when he decided to run again.

West High School's football team plays its home games at Bentonville High School's Tiger Stadium, seven miles from West High's Centerton campus.

Matt Burgess, a board member, said he doesn't think a stadium at West High School is a priority for the district.

"The reality is we have all sorts of significant needs we have to resolve before we get to that luxury. We have a great stadium at Bentonville High School that serves multiple purposes," Burgess said.

Joe Quinn, another board member, said his priorities are helping low-performing students and students who don't have a lot of resources at home.

"Those are the areas I'd like to focus on," Quinn said. "But I respect [Superintendent] Dr. Jones and am willing to respectfully listen to any issue she puts in front of us."

Quinn said whatever issues are being discussed, "I can't emphasize enough we need the millage to pass to address the construction needs of the next five years."

Athletics director Scott Passmore told the board in November he'd been engaged in efforts to raise money for a stadium but had little success. The board at the time discussed providing at least some money to jump-start fundraising but never made a decision. There's hasn't been serious talk about it since then.

How and when to pay for athletic facilities is an issue that has come up in other area school districts.

Springdale School District voters in 2010 rejected a 2.7-mill increase that would have put about $15 million into new sports facilities such as a football stadium at Har-Ber High School and renovation of existing spaces.

Voters narrowly approved a second, smaller ballot issue in 2011 that brought in enough money to build two schools. Athletic improvements were left out of that attempt.

In November 2013, however, the Springdale board agreed to put about $8 million into construction of a football stadium at Har-Ber High School and renovations of Springdale High School's stadium.

Administrators and board members said at the time they thought the 2010 millage failure was owed mainly to the bad economy.

NW News on 05/08/2017

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