MAYFLOWER — The Mayflower School District’s enrollment has declined by 47 students since the city’s 2014 tornado, and the district has taken a corresponding hit in state funding, Superintendent John Gray said.
He said the district hasn’t yet recovered from the deadly twister on April 27 that year, which killed three people in the community, as well as from the Exxon-pipeline oil spill the year before.
“Our enrollment is still low because of the tornado and oil spill; therefore, our income is going to be down a little next year,” he said, because the district will receive $6,646 in state funding for each student. Gray said the district’s revenue is down $314,000 in its $5 million budget.
The district’s enrollment is 1,073 in kindergarten through the 12th grade.
The Pegasus pipeline broke March 29, 2013, between two houses in the city’s Northwoods subdivision, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of heavy crude oil into the neighborhood, drainage ditches and a cove of Lake Conway.
“What you’ve got is houses removed or not occupied because of the tornado or oil spill,” Gray said. “There are still a bunch of for-sale signs on empty houses.”
Mayflower Mayor Randy Holland said the 2014 tornado
damaged or destroyed 160 homes and 16 businesses in the city of approximately 2,200 residents.
“You’re starting to see houses built back now, especially on Dam Road, and that was probably the most devastated part of the city,” Holland said. When the homes come back, so will enrollment, he said.
“We’re trying to work on our subdivisions and on some new subdivisions with the builders,” Holland said. “Economic development and community development go together. We’re are definitely going in the right direction. It takes time and money.”
Gray said the district will cut a couple of positions for next year through natural attrition.
“As people resign, we won’t replace them. We had one elementary teacher resign who won’t be replaced; over the summer, we’ll have a few more,” Gray said. “We’ll move people around grade to grade. We will staff according to student population and state standards — we just won’t have extra, that’s all.”
Last year, the district had a [carryover] balance of $1.56 million, which is in the desired range, he said.
“We do not know what the carryover is going to be at the end of this school year as yet. We will know more this summer. We are running according to budget,” Gray said. “We’re financially healthy, if we did nothing. It’s prudent to start being efficient now so in the future, it doesn’t get you in trouble.
“I really believe we’ll grow again; we’re just in a slump right now. When we grow, we’ll start adding teachers again. We try real hard to support our teachers because they’re important to us.”
Gray said no observance is planned for the two-year anniversary of the storm.
“At some point, you have to move on,” he said.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.