Take your pick: “Vote Against the PBSD Millage.” “Our students our future.”
One sees the two campaign signs in what would appear to be about equal numbers, both referring to the effort to pass a millage increase for the Pine Bluff School District.
It is unfortunate that there is an “against” side to the issue and to see that situation as something that was avoidable.
As you recall, the Dollarway district was under state control and then was annexed with the Pine Bluff district, which was also under state control.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Now, under a limited-authority board, Pine Bluff is asking patrons of both former districts to pony up a little extra in property taxes – that’s where millages hit – to pay for a new high school for the combined district.
When the state takes over a failing district, it — the state — has five years to figure out a solution. At the end of those five years, the state either turns the district over to local control or joins it with another district.
That’s what happened to Dollarway. At the end of five years, that district still wasn’t deemed to be up to snuff – despite being run by the state for all that time – so the state merged it with Pine Bluff.
So what about this added tax? Certainly, Pine Bluff needs new facilities. Even the Jack Robey campus, built back in the 1980s, has come to the end of its usefulness. And goodness, look around. White Hall has several new facilities. Watson Chapel will soon build a new high school. And Sheridan is luxuriating in all its new buildings and a sports arena that looks like it belongs to a well-heeled college.
Yes, Pine Bluff is way past due, and there are many patrons who will go to the polls and vote to support a new generation of students.
And while we’ve not heard anyone disagree with that sentiment, there are what appears to be quite a few energized patrons who will vote against the tax increase.
Why? Because Pine Bluff is still under state control, and despite the assurances that later this year the district will be turned over to local control and sail under its own steam, voters do not like the fact that they are being asked to commit additional financing to a project and not know beforehand that the district is under local control.
That situation has unnecessarily pitted voters against each other on this issue and, as we said earlier, it could have been avoided. Had the state released Pine Bluff and turned it over to local control, we doubt there would have been one iota of opposition to this measure. That divide could be called an unforced error.
For those reasons, we urge patrons to go vote, but we are not recommending a vote in either direction.
The district needs new facilities, but as the aginners are saying, that vote to approve those facilities would be better to happen once the district is free and the public knows exactly where those new dollars are going. What they don’t want to happen is for a millage increase to pass and then for the district not to be released, a situation that would see local tax dollars not being controlled locally.
If this vote on Tuesday is like other special election votes, few people will bother to show up, meaning your vote, percentage-wise, is extra important. Give this matter some thought. Our reporting has covered both sides of the issue, and letter-writers have as well. It’s your turn, voters.