GENTRY -- School board members made it official at their monthly meeting, Jan. 18. By unanimous vote, the board approved moving the building of a new intermediate school classroom building from the future facilities planning list to the list of building plans to which the district is committed to complete.
The action means the district will now move forward with plans, obtain design drawings, hold public meetings and take the necessary steps to put a millage increase and bond measure on the September school election ballot to pay for the project.
Items moved from the planning list to the committed list include the new intermediate school building; a new roof for the multipurpose building to the north of the intermediate school bus tunnel which houses the cafeteria, gym and art classrooms; a new diesel mechanic lab building at the high school with classrooms for other charter school offerings, including CNA training; system renovation in the new agriculture building; new electrical service and distribution in the high school; and a new lighting and sound system upgrade in the high school auditorium.
The intermediate school projects will have top priority for completion if anything must be put on hold, according to Randy Barrett, superintendent of Gentry Schools.
Barrett suggested a two-story classroom building at the intermediate school campus might be a good way to make good use of the limited space and give students and teachers a school facility unique to the district and set apart from the district's other facilities. He mentioned the Allen Elementary facility in Siloam Springs as an example. He also assured board members and patrons attending the Monday night meeting that the public and the board would be able to view design drawings and plans before a final decision is made on the new school facility's design.
Cost estimates for all the projects moved to the committed list were approximately $10.5 million, with a possible 1.7 million of that funded by the Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation, though state funding remains uncertain.
"I don't know if we'll get a dime from the state," Barrett said, adding that the electrical and Ag building renovation work at the high school could be put on hold if no state aid funding is available.
Barrett explained that the district could present its projects and learn of the amount of state aid for which the projects qualify but the actual amount depends on money available and the number of project applications and the prioritized needs of other school districts applying for state funding.
Barrett said that the district's financial adviser, Stehphen's Inc., estimated the district could finance $9.5 million in bonded debt to pay for the projects for a millage increase of 3.1 mills. Barrett said the proposed millage increase would cost property owners an additional $62 per year for property assessed at $100,000. He added that the amount breaks down to $5.17 per month or 17 cents per day to fund the school building projects.
He said the increase to 46 mills would put the Gentry School District second behind Bentonville for the highest millage rate in the northwest Arkansas region. He said Siloam Springs is at 45 mills and Pea Ridge at 44.8 mills. He also said each mill in the Bentonville School district generates a lot more money than a mill in the Gentry School District.
Barrett declined to suggest a "Plan B" should the voters not approve the bond measure in September, saying he did not want to plan to fail. He said the board would have to reconsider options at that time should the bond measure fail.
With some questioning the boards approval to spend money for repairs and upgrades to the baseball and softball complex while the greatest need is for a fix to resolve the health and safety issues at the intermediate school, Barrett said, "I can't stop working on things I can fix in the short term if I can't fix the long-term."
Barrett told the board and those in attendance that the needs at the intermediate school were still a top priority even though previous plans had been put on hold because of a lack of state assistance.
Jason Barrett, transportation and maintenance director for the district, told the board that warranty repairs were being made to the roof at the intermediate campus with most of the leaks stopped. He said half the roof had been reseamed, solving the leak problems, and that the other half of the roof would be reseamed as soon as the materials become available to the roofing company.
Other Business
In other business, the board renewed Randy Barrett's contract as superintendent for another year by unanimous vote. Barrett had announced last year his intentions to retire after the 2016-2017 school year.
Barrett reported that, with the current $3.3 million operating fund balance, the district looked to be on track toward making bond payments and paying summer teacher salaries and still finishing out the current school year with the needed $1.5 million in funds to start the next school year on good footing and avoid any concerns of a declining balance in year-end funds and state intervention.
General News on 01/27/2016