Bentonville sets structure for school naming rights

BENTONVILLE — The right to name one of the School District’s next new school buildings could be yours for a donation of at least $1 million to the district.

The School Board on Monday unanimously approved guidelines for naming rights, attaching $1 million to an elementary or middle school, $2 million to a junior high school and $5 million to a high school as the appropriate donations at each building level.

Those who can’t afford a seven-figure gift could name a school library, gymnasium, playground or performance area for between $300,000 and $500,000, according to the guidelines.

The district bought several pieces of land earlier this year in anticipation of building four schools over the next five years: two elementary schools, a middle school and a junior high school.

One of those properties was a 30-acre site in Centerton belonging to the family of the late Rex Grimsley.

The district and the family agreed to a price of $1.4 million, which included a $1 million discount the family gave in exchange for naming rights to either an elementary or middle school built there.

Since then the district has received another inquiry about naming rights, said Janet Schwanhausser, the district’s finance director.

Administrators sought the board’s approval of naming-rights guidelines to use when people make similar inquiries in the future, she said.

“I want to make it very clear we’re not asking to bind the board to these amounts,” Schwanhausser said, when she introduced the guidelines to the board at its meeting on June 5.

“We would bring any contract for any naming rights to you.”

Prices for naming rights to spaces such as a library and gymnasium are included in the guidelines for elementary, middle and junior high schools, but not for high schools. That’s because those kinds of spaces can vary so much in size and significance at the high school level, Schwanhausser said.

In other business Monday, the board approved by a 3-2 vote increases to the district’s facility rental rates and other related changes.

Matt Burgess, Eric White and Willie Cowgur voted for the changes. Brent Leas and Rebecca Powers voted against them.

One of the changes is the fees for renting a cafeteria or a gymnasium will vary by school, depending on the age of the facility and the mechanical systems involved, said Paul Wallace, facilities director.

A cafeteria rental, for example, currently is $ 50 for a nonprofit group and $ 150 for a commercial group. Starting July 1, under a new three-tiered cost structure, renting a cafeteria will range from $ 75 to $175 for a nonprofit and $200 to $350 for a commercial group.

“When it comes to gymnasiums, we have some floors that are a rubber flooring, some that are competition wood floors that take more to maintain,” Wallace said, explaining the varying rental fees.

District facility and athletic use fees haven’t been adjusted since 2007, except for fees associated with the Arend Arts Center at Bentonville High School, Wallace

said.

The board also approved increasing liability insurance requirements for rentals from $250,000 to $1 million and requiring a 25 percent deposit.

The district doesn’ t charge rental fees for its own activities, school clubs

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVE PEROZEK Deb Kee, director of early childhood for the Bentonville School District, addresses the School Board during its meeting Monday.