The new Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District will receive about $10.8 million, or a 26 percent share, of the state desegregation aid earmarked for the Pulaski County Special School District in 2016-18, according to a comprehensive separation agreement reached between the two districts.
On Monday, the interim School Board for the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district ratified the 15-page proposal for splitting the state desegregation aid plus a litany of other Pulaski County Special district assets and liabilities -- all in anticipation of the new district's independent operation next year.
The division of school buildings, school buses, computer tablets, a pre-kindergarten center, building funds and carryover financial reserves between the two districts are addressed in the proposal. Staffing plans and the transfer of student and employee records from one district to the other are also components of the draft plan.
The interim board's 6-0 vote clears the way for the proposed agreement to be submitted for final approval to the Arkansas Board of Education next week and to the federal judge presiding in the long-running Pulaski County school desegregation lawsuit.
"This is a good moment for us; it's good closure on some of these proceedings," interim School Board President Daniel Gray said of the difficult negotiations that stretched over seven months. "It allows us to move on and really begin to focus on educating our children. I commend everyone that has been involved. I'm glad to get it done and put it behind us."
The proposal-- negotiated by representatives of the two districts and the state Board of Education -- is a follow-up to an earlier separation agreement from last winter that was reached shortly after Jacksonville/North Pulaski residents voted overwhelmingly in September to form a new 4,000-student district out of the Pulaski County Special district.
The state Board of Education in November ordered the creation of the new district, specifying that the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district would continue under the administration of the Pulaski County Special district during a transition period not to exceed two years.
The new proposal -- finalized and signed by Pulaski County Special Superintendent Jerry Guess, Jacksonville/North Pulaski Superintendent Tony Wood and Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key last week -- contingent on the School Board vote -- sets the official date for the detachment.
"On July 1, 2016, JNPSD shall assume all remaining authority and responsibility for delivery of all educational, operational, administrative, and financial services of and for JNPSD and will be considered fully operational," the proposal states.
The plan calls for a 74/26 percent split between the two districts of the $20,804,500 that the state is obligated to pay to the Pulaski County Special district in desegregation aid in each of the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years. The amount going to the new district will be $5,409,170 per year.
On other matters related to finances, the parties agreed that the new district can fund its operation on revenue from a 40.7-mill property tax rate -- which is the same rate levied in the Pulaski County Special district -- plus the other sources of state and federal revenue common to Arkansas school districts. The agreement states that some additional revenue will be needed by the new district to upgrade school buildings.
The proposed plan calls for the new district to purchase 10 schools and a school bus lot that are in the new district from the Pulaski Special district for $10,809,050.
That payment by the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district will enable the Pulaski County Special district to comply with federal tax requirements that apply to the sale and disposition of property financed with money from the sale of bonds.
The Jacksonville/North Pulaski district will ask voters in the upcoming Sept. 15 school election to approve the issuing of bonds -- to be financed with existing tax mills for debt service -- to pay for the schools and bus lot. If voters approve the use of the mills to finance the bonds, the Jacksonville district shall pay the Pulaski County Special district as soon as practical after next July 1. The district is not asking for an increase in the school tax rate.
If voters in the new district don't approve the bond plan, the proposed agreement calls for the Jacksonville district to pay for the schools based on a long-term amortization schedule. Until approved, the Jacksonville district will continue to seek voter approval for the issuance of bonds to finance the detached assets as frequent as permitted by law.
"JNPSD will not issue bonds for any purpose unless it has previously or contemporaneously paid the detachment amount to PCSSD," the proposed agreement says.
The proposed agreement includes provisions for a more casual means of dividing the property in the transportation lots, central maintenance and warehouse facility, the Pulaski Special district's administration building and any other non-school facilities. Representatives of the two districts will inspect those premises and agree on what is to be transferred to the new district.
The splitting of the school bus fleet will be the exception to the informal process. The agreement establishes a process for dividing the regular and special education buses that includes consideration of the age and condition of the vehicles.
The Pulaski County Special district will pay the Jacksonville district $750,000 as the new district's share of the $1.5 million spent by the Pulaski district this past year for iPad tablets and related accessories for a 1-to-1 computer to student initiative.
Another significant portion of the proposed agreement deals with providing the new district with a share of the Pulaski County district's reserves in such a way that the new district will have adequate cash flow on which to operate beginning next July.
That portion of the proposed agreement calls for the Pulaski County Special district to provide the new district with $4.5 million on which to operate next July. That amount will be a draw on the 23.5 percent of all June 30, 2016 unrestricted fund balances that the Pulaski County district will ultimately distribute to the Jacksonville system. There will have to be periodic "true-ups" of those fund balances over the course of several months culminating with the completion of a 2015-16 legislative audit of the Pulaski County district.
The proposed agreement envisions the two districts sharing the Homer Adkins pre-kindergarten center through the 2017-18 school year. The center is located within the boundaries of the new district. The Pulaski Special district will administer the pre-kindergarten programs for the two districts with money from different grants. Center employees will be Pulaski County Special district employees. The Jacksonville district will be responsible for insurance, maintenance and repair of the building.
The proposed agreement includes the districts' previously announced plans for staffing their schools, including the Pulaski County Special district's plans for notifying its employees that work in the Jacksonville area schools that their contracts will not be renewed for the 2016-17 school year. Those employees will be able to apply to be employees in the new Jacksonville district or they can apply for vacancies elsewhere in the Pulaski County Special district.
Wood, the Jacksonville/North Pulaski superintendent, followed up the interim board's vote Monday by urging the board to begin making plans for improving school buildings in the new district -- even a new high school complex. Those kinds of plans -- including schematic drawings and cost estimates -- must be submitted to the state Department of Education by March 1, he said.
The new district has advertised for architects and for construction management firms to assist the district with those plans. Those applications are due to the district Friday. Wood said he would like the top contenders to make presentations to the board on their work at a work session later this month.
Metro on 08/04/2015