Springdale board hears plans for campus projects, update on state funding

SPRINGDALE -- Projects for three campuses are set to go out to bid next month.

Expanding athletic fields at Springdale High School is expected to cost $3.5 million and will include baseball and softball fields, a new track and a soccer field, said Brad Chilcote, an architect for Wittenberg Delony and Davidson Architects, based in Little Rock.

Plans for Tyson and Walker elementary schools is to provide both with more prominent entrances and media center additions, similar to projects at Elmdale and Westwood elementary schools, Chilcote said. Construction is expected to cost $2 million at each campus.

Chilcote reported on the projects during Tuesday's Springdale School Board meeting. He anticipates all three additions will be ready in August.

Superintendent Jim Rollins updated the School Board on per-pupil foundation funding proposals lawmakers will be considering in 2017 legislative session.

Professional studies commissioned by state lawmakers suggested increases of 2.4 percent and 2.7 percent in the foundation funding for both 2018 and 2019, but a state committee on adequate funding for schools drafted a recommendation for a 0.71 percent increase in 2018 and no increase in 2019, Rollins said. A state Senate Education Committee will propose a 1.01 percent increase for each year and the House Education Committee has not made a recommendation.

The concept of adequate funding for schools is to make sure every child has a chance to be proficient or advanced in their education, Rollins said.

"It appears to me, based on my understanding of the process, that a recommendation of a 1 percent increase in the foundation funding is not adequate," he said.

Rollins keeps School Board members updated on proposed legislation affecting schools and encourages board members to be students of the process, School Board Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Ownbey said. He's already sent emails to some state lawmakers concerning adequate funding for education.

"If we don't have adequate funding, we miss out on opportunities to provide additional teaching and learning opportunities for students," Ownbey said.

A day at school involves more than learning to read, write and add and subtract, but also includes one of the region's largest food service operations, said Deputy Superintendent Jared Cleveland, who gave an update on the scope of the Child Nutrition Program.

The program prepares food for 29 school sites and two satellite locations. The program provides breakfast, lunch, after-school snacks and prekindergarten snacks daily.

"Breakfast in the classroom" began with five pilot elementary schools in December 2012, and has grown this school year to involve 12 schools. All children at those schools are offered breakfasts daily at no charge, Cleveland said.

NW News on 11/09/2016