Eight months after voters turned down a 9-mill increase proposal for the Buffalo Island School District, patrons of the district that includes parts of Craighead and Mississippi counties are being asked to consider it again during a special election on May 12.
The increase, which would raise the district's millage from 33 mills to 42 mills, would fund construction of two new school facilities, Superintendent Gaylon Taylor said. The building projects will cost about $19.9 million, he said.
"It was an ugly campaign last year," Taylor said. "People weren't just accepting the fact that it was a vote. It became a personal issue.
"We took what we learned last year and ran full steam ahead for this election."
If the millage increase is passed, plans call for the construction of a kindergarten and elementary school building in Leachville in Mississippi County and a two-story junior high and senior high building in Monette in Craighead County.
Currently, elementary school students are housed in two buildings that are each more than 50 years old. A new addition to the high school is 30 years old and the rest is 55 years old. When it rains, water seeps through the flooring at the junior high building in Monette, he said.
Because of the ages of each building, none is up to code concerning seismic activity. The two towns are perched atop the southern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
The 817-student district was created in 1984, when the Leachville and Monette districts merged.
Last year's proposal -- which Taylor said created harsh opposing sides -- would have built the two facilities in a location between the two towns.
"Nobody wanted to take their school out of their towns," he said.
Voters rejected the 2014 proposal 725-434.
Early voting begins today, said Craighead County deputy clerk Jean Sisk.
Voting is held in the Craighead County courthouses in Jonesboro and in Lake City. On election day, residents can cast ballots in Black Oak, Monette, Lester and Leachville, Sisk said.
"We listened to our patrons," Taylor said. "The issue was between the location among the two towns, and it failed last year. We changed that and we hope that works."
State Desk on 05/05/2015