An estimated nearly $3 billion has been spent by the state and its school districts on upgrading school buildings since the 2006-07 fiscal year, according to the latest version of an annual report to be sent to Arkansas lawmakers.
The school building improvements include 133 new schools in what are now 232 districts at an approximate cost of $1.45 billion to the state and the districts.
There have been 577 building additions at a cost of about $960 million.
The totals also include 388 new heating and air-conditioning systems, at a shared cost of about $194 million, and some 344 roofing projects at a cost of about $113 million.
The state began contributing to the cost of academic buildings after the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2002 ruled that the public education system was inequitable and inadequate, and therefore unconstitutional.
Act 1181 of 2003 established state funding programs "to ensure that adequate facilities and substantially equal facilities are, and will continue to be provided for Arkansas school children," according to a part of the act cited in this year's report.
"We've seen a tremendous improvement in facilities over the years," Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key said Friday.
But Key said that doesn't mean all the needed work has been done.
There are parts of the state that, because of low property values, don't have the capacity to raise a sufficient amount of money for buildings, he said. In some of those same areas, the populations are dwindling, causing districts to close or consolidate schools.
"Our goal there is to make sure that the buildings that are being used are up to proper standards to provide a proper education environment," Key said.
The state reimburses districts for part of their building costs, giving a larger percentage of the costs to districts with fewer local resources. Regardless, raising the district money can be a challenge, Key said, pointing to districts where voters have rejected property-tax increases for buildings in recent years.
"It is tough. You see it in large district like Bryant and in a smaller community like Clarksville," Key said. "There's no consistency. Each local district has its own challenges."
Jointly funded building projects have been accomplished through three initiatives: Academic Facilities Immediate Repair, a $46 million program that expired Jan. 1, 2008; Transitional Academic Facilities Program, a $194 million strategy that expired in 2009; and the on-going Academic Facilities Partnership Program through which almost $2.8 billion has been spent, starting in the 2006-07 fiscal year.
In addition to new schools, additions, roofs and ventilation systems, the total 2,782 projects that have been jointly funded by the districts and the state included site work, plumbing, electrical systems, technology, fire and safety, conversion of space and even 17 demolitions.
On Friday, the Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation Commission approved the Oct. 1, report titled "Statewide State of Condition of Academics Facilities" for distribution to the governor and House and Senate education committees.
Murray Britton, senior project administrator in planning and construction for the Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation Division, presented the annual report to the commission Friday, including some 2014-15 data on school buses.
The transportation unit of the division conducted 6,610 bus safety inspections. The unit also provided training for 9,818 drivers.
The commission approved rules Friday governing the use of advertising on school buses, as permitted by Act 941 of 2015.
Jennifer Davis, an attorney for the state Department of Education, said the rules regulate only the size, location and type of signs permitted on a bus, "leaving it to a school district and local control" to set policies concerning the content of the advertising.
Key said school districts and various education organizations asked that the rules include guidelines on content, but state agency attorneys concluded that state restrictions on content make the state vulnerable to accusations of violating First Amendment rights to free speech.
The rules limit advertisements to the exterior of a bus on the rear quarter-panels.
Money raised through school bus advertising can be used only for school transportation purposes.
Metro on 09/21/2015