Farmington Enrollment At All Time High

COMMITTEE NEEDED TO LOOK FOR LAND FOR NEW SCHOOL

FARMINGTON — Student enrollment at Farmington schools continues to go up, with the district starting the 2019-20 year at an “all-time high,” according to Bryan Law, superintendent of schools.

“I’m excited to be in a community that people want to be in,” Law told School Board members at their Aug. 26 meeting.

Farmington started the year with 2,560 students enrolled in the district, 60 more students than the same time last year. Law said schools are allowed to drop students from the roll who have not shown up for class after 10 days and the enrollment will go down because of that.

After the meeting, Law said the district set another record. It ended

the 2018-19 school year with 2,511 students. This is the first time, Law said, Farmington has ended a school year with more than 2,500 students enrolled in class.

The increasing enrollment means Farmington already needs to start working on its next construction project, Law said.

“We will finish up one project (sports complex and stadium) and catch our breath before moving forward,” Law said, adding, “We’ll have to move forward because of our enrollment numbers.”

Board members met in a work session prior to the regular meeting and discussed a preliminary five-year facilities plan that includes expanding Folsom Elementary and the junior high, tearing down the old gym at the junior high campus and adding a pre-kindergarten program.

During the meeting, Law said he plans to appoint a committee to begin looking for land for a third elementary school.

Law said kindergarten classes are at capacity, and if another student moved into the district the school would have to hire a paraprofessional to assist in the classroom. Multiple grades are near capacity, he said.

Thursday, Michelle Beeks with the administration office said the kindergarten class has 179 students. The largest class at Farmington is seventh grade with 215 students. Sixth grade is next with 211 students.

Junior High Principal Joe McClung on Thursday said his school had 618 students in 7th-9th grades. Last year classes were around 192 students for the three grades. This year his smallest grade has 200 students.

“We’re up across the board,” McClung said, adding his school is not able to accept out-of-district transfers at this time because of capacity.

In other news, the School Board approved a $21.4 million budget for the 201920 year. The budget shows the district started the year with a $755,000 beginning balance and projects to end 2019-20 with a $735,000 balance.

Projected revenues for the new year include $5.8 million from property taxes, $12.9 million from state equalization aid, $985,000 from Act 79 (homestead credit) and $413,000 from National School Lunch Student Funding.

Projected expenditures include $10.2 million for teacher salaries, $3 million for certified and classified benefits, $1.3 million for operating expenditures, $1.6 million for classified salaries, $850,000 for utilities and insurance, $591,000 for custodial, $342,500 for maintenance and $240,000 for transportation.

Debt service for the year will be $2.58 million in principal, interest and fees.

Law said the district’s debt payments will be about $70,000 more this year compared to 2018-19, because of debt for the new athletic facilities at the high school.

“The first year (of debt) will be a challenge,” Law warned board members. “As student enrollment continues to go up, this will be less of a hit.”

He said he believes the ending balance will be higher than projected based on student enrollment and new houses under construction in the Farmington School District.

For this year, though, he said school officials have tightened the budget somewhat and expenditures also will be down because several long-term teachers with higher pay have retired and been replaced with teachers with less years of experience and thus lower salaries.

“When it’s all over, I think we’ll make it through this year and look forward to the future for our next construction projects,” Law said.

In other action, the board agreed to a recommendation to increase the pay for substitute nurses to $85 per day. Law said Farmington’s pay is near the bottom compared to other schools and the increase would put it in about the middle of what other schools pay.

The board also approved requests for 30 students to transfer into the district and 15 to transfer out of the district. For the transfers in, 17 are coming from Fayetteville, nine from Prairie Grove and two each from Rogers, Lincoln and West Fork. For those going out, 12 are going to Fayetteville, two to Prairie Grove and one to Springdale.