Vilonia School District Superintendent David Stephens said whether or not the proposed 5.7-mill property-tax increase is successful, it’s important to him that patrons have all the information on the proposed increase.
“I want to be transparent,” Stephens said. “I don’t want at the end of the day for someone to say, ‘You didn’t tell us that part.’”
Patrons will vote on the proposed millage increase in the Sept. 19 school election.
A public meeting on the topic is scheduled from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Frank Mitchell Intermediate School on Mount Olive Road.
The 5.7-mill property-tax increase would fund a three-phase $33 million construction project that includes a 1,200-seat auditorium and a larger cafeteria, a career and technical-education center and renovations to the high school. The cost includes furnishings and fees for Lewis Architects Engineers in Little Rock.
The district has received $4.2 million in state aid, Stephens said, leaving the district responsible for nearly $29 million.
The project is being done in three phases, Stephens said, to ease the burden on taxpayers. He said if all three projects were launched at one time, a much higher property-tax increase — 9 to 10 mills — would be needed.
A 5.7-mill property-tax increase would cost patrons an additional $114 a year, based on a home with a $100,000 market value.
The district’s millage would increase from 39.9 to 45.6.
The last millage increase was five years ago. Voters approved a 1-mill increase by a 3-1 margin in the September 2012 school election to build the city’s intermediate school.
The first phase of the proposed project, which would start in fall 2017, would be the construction of an auditorium on the east side of the high school and almost doubling the size of the cafeteria. Phase I would also include moving the administrative offices in the high school so the library/media space could be enlarged.
Stephens said a $1.5 million state partnership grant was awarded to the district for the auditorium construction, but the district will lose the grant if construction doesn’t start in the fall.
“The window to use that money is closing,” Stephens said.
Student parking would be moved to near the auditorium, freeing the current student parking space for the second phase, construction of a career-technical center on the west side of the high school, scheduled to start no later than fall 2021.
“It’s kind of like chess, moving the pieces where they fit the best,” Stephens said.
The final phase, renovations to the high school, will include enlarging classrooms and improving existing science labs. That phase is scheduled to begin no later than 2026.
Stephens said all the projects are needed, but he is particularly excited about the opportunities students would have with the establishment of a career-technical center.
“We just believe very strongly as a district that we need to put an emphasis on college and career readiness,” he said.
Although public school traditionally makes a “push for college,” he said, “there’s also a group of kids [for whom] college may not be an option. They can be just as successful. We want to make what we do very relevant. It’s not college or career; it’s college and career.”
Stephens said district officials have met three times with representatives of Nabholz Construction to find out where the greatest area of growth is in that industry and what the needs are.
“They said commercial construction,” Stephens said. “Nabholz is working on a curriculum for us to work with high school students for an entry into that field. I’m excited about the possibility about how that could grow into something.”
Board President Randy Sanders, who is in his 29th year on the board, said all three projects are important.
“Actually, we could have used all these facilities a long time ago, but we just haven’t had the money,” he said.
“If our tax base wasn’t so low, we would have asked for it a long time ago. There’s not a lot of industry. We don’t get the growth there, as far as businesses, as other towns do, and that’s a negative, and that’s why people have been real generous to support us.”
Sanders said he has been through several millage campaigns.
“We only ask when there’s a need to help us move forward and educate the kids,” he said.
Tommy Bates, owner of Vilonia Therapy Services, said he supports the millage proposal.
“As one of the reasons we came [to Vilonia] was for the schools, and another reason as a local business who wants to see the city continue to thrive, I’m all for it,” he said. “I think it’s the best asset we have as a town. I’d be all for doing something that enhances or empowers our school.”
Bates said he and his wife, Susan, have three children in the district: a 10th-grader, a seventh-grader and a fourth-grader.
He said the auditorium and career technical-education center “both just make sense.” He said the auditorium will help band and drama students, and the education center will help students by preparing them for life.
Vilonia Fire Chief K.C. Williams said he supports the proposal, too. He has two children in the Vilonia School District, one in junior high and one in middle school.
“Anything we can do to better our school system and/or our community and offer more things is better economically for the town,” he said. “They’re all good projects.”
Stephens said Tuesday’s public meeting will be the second.
“We had one in July at the high school, and we had about 30 people there. It was a good meeting. They asked good questions; they asked hard questions,” Stephens said. “We’ve received very positive feedback from people who were there.
“As I’ve said, it’s not to convince them to vote for a millage or not vote for a millage, but at the end of the day, however it turns out, I want them to know what it’s all about.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.