School seeks investment

Seeking to construct a new high school and take advantage of more than $10 million available from the state, Pea Ridge Board members are going back to the voters to seek a millage increase.

The request is for 3.9 mills, decreased from the request last year.

There are two informational meetings slated, one for 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the community room of the Pea Ridge Community Library, and the second at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, in the cafeteria at the Pea Ridge High School.

Meeting times were designed to be the most convenient for different people with the morning meeting slated for people who couldn’t make the evening meeting, according to Kelsey Smith, chairman of the committee for the millage campaign.

“All content will be identical,” Smith said, adding that the morning meeting was set up with the following demographics in mind: people who are retired, individuals who prefer a less crowded atmosphere, farmers, people with flexible work hours, evening or night shift.

“Since May 2017, the Pea Ridge Board of Education and I have been working hard and listening to the community stakeholders in creating a plan for the future,” Rick Neal, school superintendent, said. “We want our community to know we have listened to your wants and concerns, and in doing so, we have been able to re-think our plans and establish a new direction for our community and future of our School District.

Last May, 915 votes were cast in the school election when an additional 5.1 mills were requested. The vote failed 494 (54 percent) against and 421 (46 percent) in favor. There are 4,684 registered voters in the district.

The greatest number of voters were in the 40- to 45-years-old range with less than 14 percent of the votes cast by voters 20-35 and 42 percent of the votes cast by persons 60 years of age and older. There were 12 voters less than 20 years of age, 215 voters ages 4049 and 85 votes cast by persons 80 and older (two of whom were older than 90).

School officials plan to reconfigure grades in various buildings with the construction of the new high school, which is proposed for construction on Hazelton Road.

Editor’s note: This is the first article in a series about the school millage election.