Bentonville board asks for millage increase
The Bentonville School District doesn’t have enough space for all the kids that live within the boundaries, so new schools must be built, district Superintendent Debbie Jones told members of the Bella Vista Rotary Club at their Wednesday morning meeting last week.
The School Board is asking for a millage increase of 1.9 mills. An increase of 1.9 mills will cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 an additional $38 a year, Jones said.
“We need seats for kids,” Jones said. Since Oct. 1 the district has grown by 541 students, she said. One of the 10 elementary school principals just reported a “30 by 30,” Jones said — meaning that in 30 days, they had enrolled 30 new students in that one school.
At Willowbrook Elementary School, which is housing some of the students who will move to the district’s newest elementary school when it opens this coming August, art class takes place in an alcove in the hallway, while band class meets on the stage in the cafeteria. Staff does whatever they have to do, Jones said.
Projections show that growth will continue at about 3.5 percent, Jones said, so more space is needed. The state, she explained, funds the district on a per-pupil basis at a rate that covers day-today expenses, including books and staff, but the per-student rate doesn’t cover the cost of new buildings.
Over the past few months, the district has been developing a 10-year plan that includes new buildings based on the projected growth. This year, the district is asking for a millage that will help build four of those buildings — two elementary schools, one middle school and one junior high school.
There is already land under contract where the buildings can
be located, Jones said, including a large tract of land just outside of Bella Vista off of Ford Springs Road. The tract is more than 100 acres so three buildings, an elementary, a middle school and a junior high, could be located there.
Jones reassured her audience that she’s already been in touch with the county about improvements to the roads if the district builds on that land. It may require a new route to avoid the area that is already congested.
Earlier, as he introduced Jones, Mayor Peter Christie said he had an agreement with former Superintendent Mike Poore that the school district would not buy land inside Bella Vista’s city limits because schools don’t pay taxes. The city, Christie said, needs to develop any flat land that becomes available as commercial areas because the city needs those tax dollars.
The other locations are in the southern and western portions of the district, areas actually growing even faster than Bella Vista. She has the proposed dates for the schools to be built, but not the exact locations. The areas with the most need, will get the first buildings. One elementary school should be open for the 2019-2020 school year. The next year, a junior high school would open. The second elementary school and the middle school would open in 20222023.
In 2013, Bentonville voters approved a millage increase of 2.9 mills that funded construction of Bentonville West High School, the second high school for the district.
The school opened this year. The year before, the public turned down a request of 6.7 mills that would have funded the new high school, renovated the existing high school and added funds for technology.
People ask, Jones said, why the new request is so much lower than the 2013 request. Part of the reason is the growth, she said. The projections for the future of the district include the assumption that property values are increasing.
There is also some state money available specifically for building, she said. The state may contribute $12 million if all four schools are built.
But another large piece of the funding will be secured by refinancing existing bonds, district financial director Janet Schwanhausser said. It’s similar to a homeowner refinancing a mortgage, she said, but there’s one big difference. A homeowner will always be looking forward to a time when they have no mortgage, but the school district doesn’t have to plan for retirement. They can continue paying on the bonds indefinitely.
Both Rogers and Pea Ridge are asking for millage increases this year. The Rogers district includes 22 schools and currently has a millage of 38.40.
The election will be held on May 9 with early voting between May 2 and 8. Early voting locations are the Benton County Clerk’s office on 215 Central Ave. in Bentonville and the clerk’s Rogers office at 1428 West Walnut. On election day there will be three places to vote in Bella Vista, the Bella Vista Baptist Church on Lancashire, the New Life Christian Church on Riordan and Bella Vista Church of Christ on McNelly Road.