Sheridan schools seek millage increase

Lauren Goins, communications director for the Sheridan School District, and Rodney Williams, Sheridan High School principal, point out problems in the high school gymnasium. Parts of the bleachers in the student section are not suitable for seating; therefore, students have to stand while attending activities in the gym. Plans call for building a new multipurpose arena to replace the aging gymnasium, which would become a practice and physical-education gym
Lauren Goins, communications director for the Sheridan School District, and Rodney Williams, Sheridan High School principal, point out problems in the high school gymnasium. Parts of the bleachers in the student section are not suitable for seating; therefore, students have to stand while attending activities in the gym. Plans call for building a new multipurpose arena to replace the aging gymnasium, which would become a practice and physical-education gym

— The Sheridan School District will seek a millage increase during the regularly scheduled school election on Sept. 20.

Lauren Goins, communications director for the Sheridan School District, said the proposed increase of 3.8 mills would bring the millage rate, which is currently 32.2 mills, to 36 mills.

“That’s still lower than surrounding school districts and almost two points lower than the average school district in Arkansas,” Goins said.

She said the average homeowner would see less than a $10 per month increase in property taxes.

“For example, real property valued at $100,000 would cost a property owner [an additional] $6.33 per month, and the annual [added] cost would be $76,” she said.

Goins said the school district sought the same millage increase during a special election in 2015, but voters did not approve the ballot issue.

“This is the same [millage] increase but a slightly different proposal,” Goins said, adding that the current proposal was approved by members of the Sheridan School Board during its May 9 meeting.

In an effort to better inform the public about the proposed millage increase and the planned facility projects, the Sheridan School District will host a public meeting at 7 p.m. Friday in McKenzie Hall (the auditorium) at Sheridan High School, where administrators will discuss the plan, which is posted on the district’s website, sheridanschools.org.

“We are going to gather questions ahead of time and answer them that night,” Goins said.

Goins noted that members of the community in favor of the proposed millage increase have set up a Facebook page — Vote Yes Make a Difference Sheridan Schools.

“We also know there is some opposition, but it does not appear to be too organized,” Goins said. “This time, we are trying hard to demonstrate the need [for the millage increase]. It feels like we are getting lots of support from the community.”

If approved, the millage increase will help pay the district’s estimated cost — $30.5 million — for several proposed construction and/or renovation projects, which would be carried out in two phases. Goins said the state of Arkansas would contribute an estimated $15 million in additional funds for the facilities upgrades, making the total cost of the projects an estimated $45 million. A total of $8.9 million in state shares was approved in May by the Arkansas Academic Facilities Partnership Program, which is administered by the Arkansas Department of Facilities and Transportation. The rest of the funding is pending state approval and is set to be confirmed in May 2017.

Both phases, which are broken down by the state’s funding cycle, are primarily aimed at renovating the aging high school and junior high school facilities, building three new freestanding facilities and building an addition to the existing junior high facility, which will become a middle school.

Phase 1 of the plan, which would be funded this school year, 2016-2017, includes the following:

• Building a 58,000-square-foot, two-story addition on the high school campus [across Vine Street from the existing high school] that would house ninth-grade students, as well as career and technical classrooms, special-education classrooms, a library and administrative offices;

• Renovating the auditorium on the high school campus, including sound, lighting, seating and painting, and building a new multipurpose arena (gymnasium) on the high school campus;

• Renovating parts of Sheridan Intermediate School; and

• Building a new 57,664-square-foot East End Middle School, which would serve grades six through eight.

Sixth-grade students currently attend intermediate schools in East End and Sheridan.

Miscellaneous projects funded during phase 1 include installing a traffic loop between Sheridan intermediate and Sheridan elementary schools to alleviate traffic congestion between the schools; renovations for band and choir rooms at the high school; safety and security upgrades at all campuses; accessibility upgrades at all campuses; repair of parking lots; and additional funding for transportation.

Phase 2, which would be funded during the 2017-2019 school years, would include the following:

• Tearing down the oldest part of Sheridan Junior High School that was built in 1963 and converting it to Sheridan Middle School, which would serve grades six through eight — including 35,000 square feet of new construction that would be added to the remainder of the current building;

• Upgrading the cafeteria and classrooms at Sheridan High School, which was built in 1970, and additional upgrades at the auditorium, including the mechanical system; and

• Installing a new roof on Sheridan Intermediate School.

“Our community will receive an estimated $15 million in state partnership funds to help us complete our facility projects,” said Jerrod Williams, Sheridan School District superintendent. “We are feeling a sense of urgency to secure our part of the funding and enter into a contract before our partnership money expires. We are appreciative of the endorsement from the [Arkansas Department of Education] facilities division and their support of the needs in the Sheridan district.”

Rodney Williams, principal at Sheridan High School for the past seven years, said, “Space, in general, is a major problem here at the high school.

“We have some classrooms located across [Vine Street] in the alternative learning school. The electrical capacity in this building is restricting the whole digital piece. We have been able to find ways to work around it, but this building was built in 1970 and was not designed for modern technology.”

Goins said the media specialist takes portable carts around to different classrooms so students can have access to the internet.

“She has blown several breakers,” Goins said, smiling. “We have learned to work around it, but it is limiting our offerings to the students.”

Rodney Williams said space for administrative offices is also limited at the high school.

“I think my office used to be the library storage or conference room,” he said. “You just have to make it work the best you can.”

The principal said the issue of space is also noticeable in the high school cafeteria, which now offers two lunch periods, with approximately 450 students eating during each period.

The space issue is also evident in the gym.

“The current gym was built for a 1A school, yet we compete as a 6A school now,” Goins said. “We could never attract a state tournament here in this gym, which was built in 1970, along with the high school.”

Rodney Williams noted that the bleachers in the gym are so old they cannot be repaired.

“Part of the student section has no bleachers for the students to use,” he said. “It’s just plywood. They have to stand up during the entire game.

“There is no room on the floor for the cheerleaders to put their mats for their routines, either,” Goins said. “We have a competitive cheer group.”

Rodney Williams said the lack of space in the gym “is really a bit of a safety issue, too.”

Goins said that when the new gymnasium is built, “this old gym will become a practice gym and a gym for physical-education classes.”

Another issue that will be addressed by the district’s proposed facilities plan is the auditorium.

Plumbing problems have been noted in the auditorium, and in fact, it had to be closed a few times because of flooding.

“We plan to gut the auditorium and refigure it to use the maximum space,” Rodney Williams said, adding that the project will include remodeling and addressing plumbing and electrical issues, as well as the sound system.

“To get to the sound box, a person has to climb up small, narrow stairs,” Rodney Williams said.

He said remodeling the auditorium would cost approximately $1.2 million and would continue into the second cycle of the facility projects plan.

“If the millage passes, we hope to start construction on the two-story addition to the high school in the spring or summer of 2017,” the principal said.

Issues at the current Sheridan Junior High School, which houses grades seven through nine, also seem to revolve around the age of the building, plus there is not much parking space available.

“One of the biggest problems with the [junior high] building is when it was built, technology was nonexistent,” said Mickey Siler, director of administrative services for the Sheridan School District. “There were one or two electrical receptacles in each classroom. A 16 mm reel-to-reel projector was the latest in technology.

“As technology has evolved, our electrical power consumption has quadrupled and more. Right now, we are trying to power more computers, laptops and Chromebooks. We have to label the receptacles as to what kind of computer they can accommodate to keep from blowing fuses.”

Jason Burks, who has been in the Sheridan School District for seven years and is beginning his second year as the junior high school principal, said, laughing, “I once inadvertently shut down all the internet and security systems.

“To try to fix it would be more than the old building is worth.”

Goins said plans are to tear down the oldest part of the junior high school building and keep the newer additions, which include the science wing that was built in the late 1990s and the fine-arts wing that was built in 2011.

“That will allow us to use part of the building for classes while they construct a new 35,000-square-foot building, which will be made into two stories, so that we can add more parking and allow for expansion in the future,” she said.

Burks said the millage increase “will allow us to have a 21st-century school for our kids.”

Goins said building the new East End Middle School would take away 40 percent of the students from the current junior high school building.

Goins said district administrators believe one reason the millage-increase proposal failed last year was “we really didn’t show the need. We are trying to do that now.”

“People also were confused about those district residents who live in East End in Saline County,” she said. “They did not think those residents paid the same millage rate as the residents of Grant County pay. That is not true. … All residents of the Sheridan School District pay the same millage rate.”

In explaining the relationship between the Sheridan School District and the community of East End, which is 16 miles from Sheridan, Goins said, “In 1949, the school boards for the Sheridan School District and the Bauxite School District got together and made the decision to let East End [students] go to Sheridan and let Tull [students] go to Bauxite.”

Goins said the Sheridan School District serves not only families in Sheridan and East End, but also in the Grant County communities of Prattsville, Leola and Grapevine.

“We cover 622 square miles,” she said. “We are the fifth largest district in terms of geographic area.”

The Sheridan School District currently includes East End Elementary School, Sheridan Elementary School, East End Intermediate School, Sheridan Intermediate School, Sheridan Junior High School and Sheridan High School.

For more information, call the Sheridan School District at (870) 942-3135.

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