Dover school to make third millage-increase try

DOVER — Patrons of the Dover School District, who have defeated two prior millage-increase proposals, will be asked a third time to approve a millage increase to build a middle-school complex.

This time, though, the increase won’t hurt patrons’ pocketbooks as much, Superintendent Jerry Owens said.

The Dover School Board voted earlier this month to hold a special election Feb. 10 to try to get a property-tax increase passed, after two others have failed. The last request was in February for 3.5 mills, and it lost by 38 votes.

Before that, a 5.5-mill property-tax increase failed in the September 2013 school election.

Owens said the February request will be “less than 3 mills,” although the board has not decided on an exact number.

He said the district’s financial advisers have been consulted and have run projections on funding.

“Luckily, interest rates have dropped. … We haven’t firmed up the numbers totally yet, but they believe we can ask for 3 mills and still get the same amount of money we would generate at 3.5 mills. That’s a significant savings for the taxpayers,” Owens said.

The project includes 10 renovated classrooms at the lower middle school for fifth- through eighth-graders, and 26 classrooms added to the building, plus a 3,500-square-foot safe room and a physical-education facility.

The current PE building is not Americans With Disabilities Act compliant, he said, and the dressing rooms have been closed.

The project is estimated to cost $10,652,800, Owens said. The state has granted an extension to the district for the $4.4 million in State Partnership Program funds, he said.

The design of the middle school complex will be tweaked slightly, he said. Based on increased construction costs and feedback from patrons, Owens said, the front of the building has been redesigned.

“The front we had on it was … more than a basic front — the covered entryway. Many of our patrons said, ‘Hey, this is too much; scale it down,’” he said.

Architects redesigned the entry to make it “a basic brick-covered drop-off. We feel like we can not only save money but listen to what the patrons asked,” he said.

“What we’re down to is just the basic building: concrete floors, brick on the outside, no tall ceilings. … We’ve gotten this thing down to the basic needs of the students, and this is what our patrons told us they want,” Owens said.

“What we need is a safe and secure building,” he said.

“I was actually talking to a parent in favor of this building, and one of the big things

[district officials have] talked about is safety and security. Her child has to leave the main middle school building four times a day,” he said.

“She’s leaving the building four times during the day, walking 300 or 400 yards a couple of times, and if it’s raining or inclement weather or — heaven forbid — if there’s someone out there that shouldn’t be, there are multiple opportunities to endanger a child.”

The construction program would enable students, “for the most part,” to stay under one roof to attend classes and go to lunch and PE.

“We’ll firm this up in

maybe a month or so,” Owens said. “We kind of need to watch these interest rates before we put that number out there.”

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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