Gravette schools seek tax increase

GRAVETTE — The School District will ask voters to support a property tax increase this spring to pay for elementary, middle and high school facility improvements.

The proposed 2.5-mill increase would generate about $12.8 million in revenue. The district is committing another $1 million from its building fund for the projects.

Most of the money would go toward a new gymnasium at the high school, estimated to cost $10.5 million.

Another $2.9 million would pay for remodeling projects at Duffy Elementary School and Gravette Middle School and the addition of career and technical classrooms at the technical center, according to documents provided by Superintendent Richard Page.

The election is set for May 22, the same day as the preferential primary elections, school board elections and nonpartisan judicial elections. The owner of a $100,000 home would pay an additional $50 per year in taxes if Gravette’s request passes.

Gravette’s millage rate of 37.2 is the lowest among the 15 school districts in Benton and Washington counties. The 2.5-mill increase would bump its rate to second lowest. The last time the district passed a millage increase was in March 2007.

The competition gymnasium is on the middle school campus and was built in

1992 with a capacity of 1,100. That is inadequate to accommodate the number of people at school events and not large enough to host district tournaments, Page said.

The district reported enrollment of 1,909 last fall, an increase of 144 students, or 8.1 percent, from 10 years earlier.

The only gym at the high school is a practice gym. The new gym would be added to the back of the high school, Page said.

The tax increase would provide $1.5 million to expand the district’s career and technical building by 12,500 square feet. Space will be added for automotive service technology and advanced manufacturing classes for secondary students during the day and post-secondary students at night, according to documents.

The district offers classes in welding; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; and machining through Northwest Technical Institute on its campus. Students enrolled in the programs also come from Bentonville, Gentry, Decatur and Siloam Springs districts.

Getting to and from Northwest Technical Institute in Springdale for classes during the day is impractical for high school students from western Benton County because of the time it takes, said Blake Robertson, the institute’s president. That’s why the institute has a satellite campus in Gravette.

The Bentonville, Decatur, Gentry and Gravette districts discussed building and jointly operating a career center. Page led the effort, but the plan fell apart last fall after the Bentonville School Board balked at the building’s projected price tag of $21 million.