Watson Chapel Superintendent Danny Hazelwood is considering asking voters to approve a 2-mill increase to fund planned construction projects. He presented a preliminary proposal to the school board Monday night and will provide further information at the January meeting.
“Our newest building is the high school and it is 34 years old,” Hazelwood said. “The junior high is 66 years old, L.L. Owen and Edgewood are about 50 years old and Coleman is 48 years old. We have done a good job of taking care of these buildings and I am proud of the pride that the custodial staff takes in maintaining them. Even though we have been taking good care of our existing buildings there does come a time when new buildings are needed.”
Planned middle school
“We have been approved for a new middle school and the state has already offered their portion of the project cost,” Hazelwood said. “The thinking that went into the decision to build a new middle school took into account the fact that the state has not been spending money for new buildings in districts that were either losing students or just holding their own. So we decided to plan on building the least expensive type of school building, which is a middle school. Schools for the younger grades cost more because you have to have bathrooms in every room and the plumbing for that is very expensive. For the older grade schools the requirements for science labs and other things that require more plumbing make those schools more expensive to build.”
“We determined that a middle school would be the most likely building that the state will fund,” Hazelwood said. “But, the new building will require the district to spend some money. The state will pick up 75 percent of the construction cost but we will have to come up with the other 25 percent. If we are looking at an $8 million building that means that $2 million must come from us. I’m not sure where that money will come from. We need to generate some new money. It is time to look at a 2 mills increase for this district. That would cover all of the projects that are planned for the district out to the next five years.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Hazelwood said that the current Watson Chapel district millage rate of 31.8 has not been changed since 1974 and is the lowest in the area, with the Pine Bluff School District at 41.7, Dollarway at 40.8 and White Hall at 39.2.
“It’s time for us to try to generate more money and so we should ask for a 2 mills increase from our patrons this spring,” Hazelwood said. “Right now we need two things to build this new middle school building: the 25 percent matching portion and the money for the land. A 2 mills increase will still keep us below the other districts around us, which makes this an attractive area to live in, and it will generate somewhere over $3 million to cover our planned projects.”
Board president Danny Holcomb asked Hazelwood if it would be possible to ask for a higher millage increase in order to provide more funding for purchases such as technology upgrades for the school district.
“A millage increase is one of the hardest things to ask voters to approve,” Hazelwood said. “We need something we think we can pass. We could look at asking for the 2 mills increase now and maybe in five years ask for another 2 mills. We only have until the end of next year to come up with our portion of the construction funds to match with the state so time is going to be an issue.”
Hazelwood said that he would provide the board with the full 10 year district facilities master plan at the January board meeting, at which time the board will vote on how to proceed with a possible special election in the spring seeking approval for a millage increase.
Building projects update
“Since 2007 we have installed a surveillance system throughout the district, we made improvements to the roof at the high school, including a new roof for the vocational building,” Hazelwood said. “We have also resurfaced the track and installed a new air conditioning system at the high school. At Coleman we put a new roof on the fifth grade building. At the junior high school we installed a new air conditioning system and installed a new roof on the gym.”
“As for future needs, the high school does not have a dedicated physical education facility and the classes are currently held in a storage building,” Hazelwood said. “By 2015 we are looking at building a new multi-purpose gym for P.E. We hope to put a new roof on the junior high school by 2017. We need to put a new roof on the fourth grade building at Coleman. The air conditioning systems at Coleman and Owen are over 15 years old and are at the end of their life cycle. We are spending lots of money at the change of the seasons switching over form heating to cooling and vice versa.”
Other business
In other business the board voted for the district to participate in the Arkansas Public School Unemployment Compensation Account provided by the Arkansas School Board Association.
“I received a letter which stated that in order to participate in the account the district must submit it to a public vote by the school board,” Hazelwood said. “This is important for the school district and I ask that you approve it.”
The board approved the November financial statement, which showed the district receiving $2,993,002.97 in November and spending $2,116,373.58, leaving an ending balance of $7,396,422.77.
Several board members commented about their attendance at the Arkansas School Board Association fall conference in Little Rock Dec. 7-9.
Board member Sandra Boone, who served as a delegate to the conference noted several important points from the meeting.
“Our own Maxine Nelson was elected as the ASBA statewide president for 2012,” Boone said. “As discussed at the meeting we are supposed to evaluate our superintendent yearly and we have not been doing this. Also, we need to look at recruiting more African Americans into education and to keep our compensation competitive in order to attract these teachers.”