LRSD levy, enrollment at Hall keep board busy

The timing for a possible third election on an extension of an existing tax levy and measures to raise enrollment at Hall STEAM Magnet High School dominated discussion among Little Rock School Board members Thursday.

Superintendent Mike Poore didn’t ask for immediate decisions on either matter and the board cast no votes on the issues, but did raise questions to be answered in the coming weeks.

Late Thursday, near the end of a five-hour session, the board was weighing whether to approve a resolution asking the Arkansas Department of Education to seek federal government

permission to allow for endof-year student testing at remote sites that could be student homes.

Jack Truemper, a senior vice president of Stephens Inc., which serves as a financial adviser to the 21,000-student district, laid out timelines for completing tasks for holding an election on extending 12.4 debt service mills at either a special or regular election this calendar year.

Little Rock district leaders have long advocated for extending the levy of the tax mills as a way to raise as much as $200 million to replace Cloverdale Middle School with an approximately $60 million new building at the site of the vacant McClellan High. The district’s top new construction priority is replacing Cloverdale Middle School because a commitment to do that was made in the settlement of a federal lawsuit.

The money raised by any tax extension would also be used to replace roofs, floors and windows in buildings and make other repairs throughout the school system.

Little Rock district voters last November rejected a proposed 18-year extension of the 12.4 property tax mills. The proposed extension would not have raised annual taxes but would have required the taxes to be paid for more years.

A similar tax extension plan was defeated by voters in a special election in May 2017.

In both 2017 and 2020, opponents to the tax plans cited the fact that the district was operating under state control.

Kelsey Bailey, the district’s chief financial officer, told the board Thursday that the district’s aging buildings, several of which are more than 70 years old, continue to have repair and renovation needs.

One option presented by Poore and Truemper on Thursday is a June 8 special election, and the other is placing the proposed millage extension on the ballot at the time of the annual school board election in November.

Board member Greg Adams asked whether there would be an advantage to holding an election in June as opposed to November.

“My educated guess is that it would be to the district’s advantage to do it sooner rather than later?” Adams asked.

Truemper said the interest rates on bond sales continue to be low, which means that the district would have a relatively lower annual debt payment. But Truemper also said that the interest rates have increased slightly in just the past couple of weeks. He also said he couldn’t predict what the interest rates might be toward the end of 2020.

Bailey told the board that if the special election on a tax extension is held in June and is approved by voters, the district would be able to incorporate the new revenue into budget plans for the coming 2021-22 school year.

Kevin Yarberry, the district’s director of plant services, told the board that the district risks losing state funding of about $930,000 for the Cloverdale/McClellan project if the project isn’t started this year — although an extension could be requested.

Yarberry also said that planning for the construction has been done and the district “is sitting on green” in regard to the building.

Regarding Hall STEAM Magnet High School that has an enrollment of fewer than 400 students this year, Poore proposed that the district make a three-year commitment to parents to support the new science and technology programs that were initiated this school year. Tied with that would be an effort to tie Hall and Forest Heights STEM Academy for pre-kindergarten through 12th grades more closely together to form more coordinated pre-kindergarten through 12th grade program. The campuses are fairly close together, one on each side of North University Avenue.

Poore said that coordination would allow for unprecedented staffing efficiencies in a district that has seen an overall enrollment decline, which has the potential to decrease state funding for the system.

School Board members asked for specific details on how the pairing of the schools would be accomplished, what the staffing plans would be and how the leadership would be structured. They also questioned whether Hall is likely to draw science students who would otherwise attend the Parkview Arts and Science Magnet School, and whether that would be a detriment to the district as a whole.

School Board member Ali Noland suggested that any district commitment to Hall be for four years rather than three as a way to give assurances to parents of an eighth grader that the high school program would remain intact for a student’s entire career.

Poore told the board that he “guarantees” enrollments at Hall and Parkview will increase with forthcoming announcements of business and industry partners for the campuses in connection with the Ford Next Generation Learning model that is being incorporated in traditional high schools throughout Pulaski County.

Poore also told the board members that the district has a history of successfully starting new schools such as Pinnacle View Middle and Southwest High School while continuing to fill existing schools.

“There is a track record,” he said. “The whole district is moving forward.”