Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Farmington Approves Teacher Raises
FARMINGTON — For the first time in five years, Farmington School District employees are receiving a salary raise, instead of a one-time bonus.
Farmington School Board approved a $1,100 salary increase for certified staff and a 2.65% increase for classified employees at its Oct. 25 meeting, with the raises retroactive to July 1.
The total cost to the district will be about $580,000, including benefits, according to Jon Laffoon, superintendent of schools.
“This is probably one of the more exciting things we get the chance to look at and do in our roles,” Laffoon told board members. “I know it’s been a while since our staff has had a raise. We’ve given bonuses every year. We’re in a position with the energy project and the increase in the funding of students to look at raises.”
The board last approved employee raises in November 2016, according to Mandy Uher, district treasurer. The past five years, employees have received bonuses, usually in November, she said.
A beginning teacher with a bachelor’s degree but no experience will receive a $42,500 salary for the 2021-22 school year, according to the revised salary schedule.
In addition to the raises, the school surveyed stipends given for extra responsibilities and compared those to other districts. Some of the stipends will be increased, based on the surveys, Laffoon said.
Examples of stipends the district pays include $4,000 for the athletic director; $3,000 for head senior baseball, softball, volleyball, senior high cheer and offensive/defensive football coordinators; $1,750 for head senior dance; $2,000 ESL coordinator; $2,000, gifted and talented coordinator; $3,500 band
director; $7,500, director of maintenance and technology; $2,500 communications director; $1,750, vocal music.
The board’s agenda included several other decisions:
School Expansion Projects
The board agreed to a recommendation from Laffoon to go ahead and advertise for bids for steel and metal for the construction projects at Farmington Junior High and Folsom and Williams elementary schools.
Laffoon said he met with representatives of Kinco Construction and Hight Jackson earlier in the day about pricing for the project. The representatives said the estimated cost for steel, prefab metal and concrete has increased an estimated $450,000 and they believe costs will continue to increase.
The board voted to give Laffoon the authorization to approve an early bid package if the bids are acceptable. If not, then Laffoon said he will come back to the board for more discussions.
Board member Josh Petree agreed with a pre-bid package.
“If we don’t move forward, I think it will put us in a worse situation for the future,” Petree said. “It’s not going to get any better.”
The district plans to add to the junior high building in two locations, a two-story building attached to the gym and a second addition at the site of the former “H” Hall, and add six classrooms and bathrooms to the elementary schools.
Second Lien Bond Issue
The board accepted a low interest rate bid of about 2.08191% from Robert W. Baird & Co., for $2.5 million in construction bonds for a second-lien bond issue. The money, along with federal covid-relief funds, will be used to pay for a $3.8 million energy savings performance contract with Entegrity Energy Partners.
The board approved the energy savings performance contract at its May 24 meeting. After the energy projects are implemented, the district is guaranteed to save $282,000 in annual costs.
The bond transaction will close Nov. 9. The debt service schedule shows the first payment on the 20-year debt will be about $163,000, due Feb. 1, 2023.
Laffoon pointed out that even with the new loan to pay for the energy project, the district still will have a “positive cash flow of a range of $120,000 annually” because of the guaranteed savings in energy costs.
Kevin Faught with Stephens Inc., said the district received a very good interest rate for the bond issue. The two other bids received were a 2.084581% interest rate from Raymond James & Associates and a 2.180622% interest rate from Crews & Associates.
Election Zoning Districts
The board approved boundary lines for its zones for the May 24, 2022, annual school election. Board members passed a resolution approving the plan and the map to establish five single-member zones.
The plan and map will be forwarded for approval by the Washington County Election Commission.
Registered voters in the Farmington School District will elect five zoned board members in the future, beginning with the 2022 school election. Candidates running for office must live in their zones and are elected by voters in those zones.
Farmington School District is having to change the way its voters elect school board members because the 2020 census shows the district now has at least a 10% minority population. A 1993 state law says a school district cannot elect all its board members in at-large elections if the total population has more than a 10% minority.
Currently, Farmington’s five board members are elected at-large by district voters.
According to 2020 census figures, Farmington School District has a population of 13,098, and of those, 19.6% are minority. The state defines minority as anyone who is Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American, American Indian, Asian or Pacific Island.
Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission provided three different zoning maps for the board to consider. The board voted on Plan 3 at its meeting last week. The deviation in population among the zones in Plan 3 is 9.4%, according to a letter from Jeff Hawkins, the commission’s executive director.
The population for the five school zones is as follows: Zone 1, 2,537; Zone 2, 2,701; Zone 3, 2,487; Zone 4, 2,606; and Zone 5, 2,738.
In other information —
• Assistant Superintendent Joe McClung announced the district has received two Project Lead the Way grants that will be used for fourthsixth grades. One grant is $10,000 and the other grant is for $9,000. Most of the money will be used for teacher training and participation fees. The grants will allow the district to offer more STEM options for all students in grades, 4-12, McClung said.
• The district’s enrollment on Oct. 19 was 2,602. Farmington started the year with an enrollment of 2,645.
• Stephanie Pinkerton, assistant superintendent, said Farmington schools have received $107,000 from the Federal Emergency Connectivity Fund, which will be used to purchase laptops, hot spots and other items to help students learn remotely.