City/school join offices
Just because it’s not been done before is no reason not to attempt it.
So believes Rick Neal, Pea Ridge School superintendent, who has led the district in several ground-breaking ventures in the last few years.
His most recent proposal is a joint school administration/city hall building on Weston Street on school property purchased earlier this year from the Raymond Foster estate. There are 16.2 acres on the site.
School Board members applauded Neal’s proposal. Mayor Jackie Crabtree and City Council
members Lance Sanders and Ray Easley, who attended the last School Board meeting, expressed approval.
“There have been a lot of firsts,” said Ann Cato, board president. “So many facilities are under utilized…. This is more efficient use of room and the taxpayers’ dollars.”
Crabtree said: “This is a very unique opportunity that we can use taxpayers’ money to the maximum…. This would benefit the school district and the city.”
“We’re growing at a 9 percent clip,” Neal said recently. “If we don’t grow externally, then we’ll become a commuter school.”
A commuter school is one in which students attend the school but do not live in the district.
School Choice provides for non-resident students to transfer districts. Neal said the district received $600,000 from growth money this year because of school choice.
“We have to feed the monster,” he said, explaining that additional students means having enough classrooms, teachers and other facilities to meet the students’ needs.
“We need to begin to start thinking a little more forwardly,” Neal said.
School officials anticipate starting school for the 2015-2016 school year with 2,000 students. “If we grow 100 students per year, in three years, we’ll be at capacity,” Neal said.
The current school administration offices are at the east end of the high school campus and could be freed for high school use.
In November, the school bought 77.2 acres on Hayden Road for $485,000; the site is being considered for a primary school.
The Weston Street property was purchased in January 2015 for $200,818.