Millage again on ballot in Bryant

Increase touted as schools must

BRYANT -- A stack of neon pink and yellow index cards sat in front of the dozen or so parents in the Bryant High School multipurpose room.

Each parent picked up a card of each color at Bryant School District Superintendent Tom Kimbrell's request. On the pink one, he instructed them to write down three things the district needs to do to be a leading school district in the state. On the yellow, he asked that they list three strengths and three weaknesses of the district.

The October meeting was one of nearly 25 that Kimbrell and the Bryant School Board held to gather community input after voters, earlier in 2014, rejected a millage increase that would have helped the growing district improve and expand its facilities.

The district had asked for a 4.7-mill increase to 41.9 mills. A mill is a 10th of a cent, and the increase would have cost an owner of a $100,000 house an additional $94 a year. But voters rejected the increase, leaving the district in jeopardy of losing state facilities funding.

Now, the district -- under Kimbrell, its new superintendent -- is again seeking a millage increase. The special election is Tuesday. And this go-around, administrators are asking for a 4.9-mill increase, which would add $98 to the $744 annually that an owner of a $100,000 house now pays.

"We looked at what our needs are," Kimbrell said. "We worked with our architect and construction management team and did some preliminary estimates as to the cost."

The district is ballooning. It averages about 300 new students each year, he said. In the 2010-11 academic year, the district had 7,949 students. This year, it has 9,017. In a decade, administrators expect it to have more than 11,800 students.

"If you look at the districts that are growing -- Bentonville, Springdale, Cabot, Conway -- in the recent years, they've had to go out and seek funding because you can't generate enough dollars with that kind of growth," Kimbrell said. "When you get into the 200 to 300 range [each year], every three to four years you're going to have to build a school somewhere."

The other three school districts in Saline County are also growing, but not as fast as Bryant, Kimbrell said. Statewide, most schools aren't seeing that kind of growth spurt.

Kimbrell said listed at the top of the district's strengths were a dedicated staff and teachers, and community pride and support. Topping the list of concerns were retaining and recruiting teachers, and maintaining safety at all schools.

Listed among priorities, he said, was dealing with district growth.

"How are we going to house all of these students that continue to move into the district? The other thing we heard from them was 'build a long-term plan. Don't come back in three or four years and ask for another millage.'"

Kimbrell responded with a 10-year plan.

The district has received $21.4 million in state partnership funds to help with its facilities. It already has used about $3.1 million of those funds on current projects, including fixing the high school's roof. To get the rest of the state funds, the district has to come up with its share of matching funds.

This time, if voters turn down the millage increase, the district will be forced to give back the remaining state funds, said Charles Stein, director of the state division of public school academic facilities and transportation.

"In discussions with the division, the district has indicated that their only way of providing their matching funds is through the millage," Stein said in an email. "If the Bryant millage does not pass and the district can't provide its match for state funding, in addition to having to return the state funds, the district will have to rescind the approved projects. The district would have to restart their master planning process and submit new project applications for needed projects."

Restarting the process would mean at least a two-year delay, he said.

The district's decade-long plan consists of three phases.

Projects in the first phase are either completed or in the works because of sales from second-lien bonds and the district's building fund. Included in that phase is the addition of classrooms, kitchens and bathrooms at Collegeville and Davis elementaries. Most of the district's recent growth has been at the elementary school level.

"The [construction] goal is to get the kids in the classrooms when school starts in August," district spokesman Devin Sherrill said.

The district delivers meals to some of its schools. It is hoped that the addition of kitchens in Collegeville and Davis elementaries will allow preparation of meals on-site and save money, Kimbrell said.

The millage increase would be used to help complete the second and third phases of the 10-year plan.

The second phase includes construction of a new elementary school and middle school. If approved, the middle school would be built across the street from Hill Farm Elementary on land the district already owns. A site for the elementary school has yet to be determined, but district officials have reviewed housing patterns from the city of Bryant to help settle on a location.

Along with that, administrators plan to alter what grade levels are at some schools. The current Bryant Middle School would be used for eighth- and ninth-graders, while the high school would be for upperclassmen.

The second phase also includes construction of a 2,200-seat arena and an auditorium for the high school. A shared common area would be surrounded by the auditorium, cafeteria and arena.

"It's taking advantage of the space that we have on this land-locked campus," Kimbrell said. "But it's also taking advantage of utilizing your money most effectively in building one ... lobby area instead of separate ones."

The third phase of the 10-year plan would require some tough decisions by the community and the School Board, he said. Toward the end of the 10 years, the district will need two more elementary schools and will have to accommodate more high school students.

The 10-year plan and the millage increase have the backing of the Bryant City Council, which passed a resolution in support of the measures last month. The proposed millage increase has no organized opposition.

"School facilities are community assets with direct correlation to economic growth, home values and overall quality of life," Bryant Alderman Brenda Miller said in a statement.

Alderman Jerry Henson said in a statement that the school district is recognized as one of the best in the state.

"This is because of our teachers and administration," he said. "We are obligated to give our teachers and students every tool available to succeed. In order to continue to attract the best educators, we must offer facilities in which teachers and students may thrive."

After the first round of about two dozen meetings, Kimbrell reached out to Shane Broadway, a lifelong Bryant resident and former legislator. Broadway, who until this year was the state Department of Higher Education director, agreed to lead a steering committee on Bryant's millage-increase proposal, but he had to be convinced.

"I was hard to convince because obviously I don't [have children in the district]," he said. "I had to reflect and say, 'at some point in time, someone made the district I attended. For future generations, if I want the value of my high school diploma to remain strong from a high school that has a great reputation, I'm going to have to be involved and engaged in this.'"

Together, the district administration provided the millage election information and the steering committee did the advocating. And a second round of public meetings began.

"The thing I've always said is the reason people move [to Bryant] is because of the schools," Broadway said. "The school is the center of that community."

Metro on 03/08/2015

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