CMS meetings to address millage
The Cutter Morning Star School District will host two public meetings today to field questions about the upcoming millage vote on the annual school election ballot in September.
The district will ask voters to approve a millage increase of 8.4 debt service mills and the extension of 15.5 mills for the construction of a new high school and basketball gymnasium on land adjacent to the existing campus. The new mills and the extension of current mills will allow the district to issue $10.255 million in construction bonds through 2047.
The measure would allow the district to receive more than $6.266 million through the state’s Academic Facilities Partnership Program. Gov. Asa Hutchinson asked the Advisory Committee on Public School Academic Facilities last month to recommend changes to the state’s funding process for the construction and improvement of school buildings. Hutchinson said the state’s average investment of $100 million per year into school facilities is unsustainable.
The annual school election is Sept.
19. Polls will be open on election day from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Early voting will be held Sept. 12-15 and Sept.
18.
Today’s meetings will be open to the public at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the multipurpose building.
“Some people might have questions and we want to give them an opportunity,” CMS Superintendent Nancy Anderson said. “We will have at least one more and maybe two more public meetings.
“We thought with them on campus, they might ask teachers or people like that questions since they are here. We thought we would take the opportunity to make it convenient for them if they had questions for a question-and-answer session.”
The elementary school and high school will welcome families to campus today for open house between 4-6 p.m. Anderson said she planned to offer an informal setting for members of the community to ask questions about the millage.
The total budget for the construction project is $14,463,575, for which Cutter Morning Star will be responsible for $8,197,493.99. The full $10.255 million in construction bonds would be designated for constructing and equipping the new high school, as well as constructing, refurbishing, remodeling and equipping other school facilities.
Cutter Morning Star was approved for new funding this spring to construct a high school for 307 students. The state approved funding for a smaller project in 2015, but the district reapplied to receive additional assistance for almost 14,000 more square feet.
The high school’s average enrollment the past six years was about 280 students. The elementary school’s enrollment was 305 students for the 201617 school year and 296 in 2015-16.
The current high school gymnasium was built in 1969. Anderson said she has worked extensively with the Arkansas Department of Education to keep the structure up to code.
The proposed increase would move Cutter Morning Star from the third-highest millage in Garland
County at 40.5 mills to 48.9. Hot Springs has a millage rate of 42.1 and Lake Hamilton ranks second at 40.6. Voters of both districts approved increases in the past four years. The state average is 37.9 mills.
“We are just there to answer their questions, whatever questions they may have,” Anderson said. “Getting back to school and having open house, we thought parents might have questions. They get back into the swing of things, get into open house and we thought they might have questions. We are here to field questions about the millage, when the vote is, how many mills we are going for and what we are going to use it for.”
The deadline to apply to register to vote in the election is Aug. 21. Mark Rash, president of the district school board, is unopposed for his seat in Position 2.
The district held a special board meeting Wednesday evening to address minor personnel decisions before the start of the school year. Students return to campus Monday.