Debate over a proposed 12.4-mill tax extension in the Little Rock School District continued Tuesday with a second rally on the issue in as many days.
Advocates for the tax extension on the ballot in next Tuesday's special election gathered on the steps of City Hall to say that the tax plan for financing school construction and modernization projects could hasten the district's release from state control.
The Rebuild Our School Now! organization held its rally on the first day of early voting, which was one day after the Citizens Against Taxation Without Representation organization held its own gathering outside the school district's headquarters. They did that Monday to show their opposition to the proposed tax extension and resulting increased bond debt while the district is under state direction without a locally elected school board.
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, part of the Rebuild Our Schools Now! group said Tuesday that "the improvement of the schools is absolutely critical to the long-term success of our school district."
The fight to regain local governance must continue, Stodola told the about 50 people, but "it's an argument different than this argument. This argument is about our kids and improving the facilities that are our kids are going to learn in."
The state took over the school district in January 2015 because six of the 48 schools were labeled by the state as academically distressed because of chronically low student performance on state-required math and literacy tests.
"We want to continue with the battle to get our schools returned to local control," the mayor continued, "but that should continue after we are successful in passing this millage extension. I believe we will get our schools back much faster by doing so, and it will show the public that we are as a city behind our public school system."
The district has proposed extending the levy of 12.4 of the district's overall 46.4-mill property tax rate by 14 years, from 2033 -- when the mills are now due to expire -- to 2047.
If approved, the extension would enable the district to refinance its existing bond debt and issue new bonds to generate $202 million -- $160 million of which would help pay for a new $90 million high school in southwest Little Rock. It also would provide for converting the current McClellan High School campus to a possible kindergarten through eighth-grade campus and allow for a new physical education complex at Mabelvale Middle School as well as repairs and updates at all other campuses in the state's largest district.
The tax extension, which has organized opposition, would not increase annual school taxes for property owners but would require the same payment for more years.
State Rep. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, one of Tuesday's speakers at City Hall for the tax extension, acknowledged the division in the city over the tax plan.
"It's tough because we have people of good faith on both sides of the issue, and not just people of good faith, but people who are intelligent, thoughtful and people who I personally respect and have a lot of admiration for," he said. "They have a lot of good arguments that I agree with."
Opponents of the measure have argued that the tax extension and additional debt should not be approved while the district is without an elected school board and under the direction of state Education Commissioner Johnny Key.
Little Rock businessman and lawyer Baker Kurrus, who served one year as superintendent of the Little Rock district before he was removed by Key, announced last week that he would not vote for the extension and added debt, largely because the district is facing the ongoing loss of students and state financial aid as the result of new and expanding charter schools in the city. He called for comprehensive planning to ensure a stable district.
Other opponents include former Pulaski County Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey, state Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, former Little Rock School Board member Jim Ross and Anika Whitfield, who is a leader of the Save Our Schools organization that is opposed to closing three schools and repurposing a fourth next school year.
"I agree we should have local control of our schools," Tucker said. "I think that should happen today if it were possible but at the first opportunity. Secondly, we should have a plan for the enrollment of the district and the geographical boundaries of the district. And most importantly I do think we need a comprehensive strategy for the future ... of the district, not just facilities but also curriculum and the professional development of our talented faculty and staff, making sure we compensate them adequately -- everything that goes into educating the kids in Little Rock."
Tucker said he differs with opponents to the extension who want those pieces to be in place before the district takes steps to improve the school facilities.
"What I have learned is you have to take a shot when you get it," Tucker said. "What we have right here is a chance to do something real for our school district, something that I think that everyone recognizes that we need for our city.
"We need to enhance our academic facilities, and in some cases we need to build new ones. We need a new high school in southwest Little Rock. If you take your shots when you can get them, then at the end of the day you can look up and see that you made more progress than you realized you were making at the time."
Kiana Frierson, 18, a senior at J.A. Fair High School, told the adults at the event that voting for the extension is an investment in their futures as well as the futures of current students.
"Many years from now when you all are retired and moved on with your lives, whose hands will the future lie in? The students who are attending LRSD schools right now," she said. "By not voting for our schools, you are stripping students of opportunity and hope."
Frierson said students taking Advanced Placement tests Monday in the Fair auditorium were disrupted by the bursting of a drainage pipe, causing damage that will hinder the school's spring concert and baccalaureate services in the coming days. Water also seeped into a couple of classrooms and a hallway, district officials said, attributing the problems to the heavy rains over the past weekend.
"Come in and witness our desperate need for yourselves and then go out and judge," Frierson said. "Education is influenced by great buildings. The better the facilities are, the more inspired students will be to come to school and learn."
Cloverdale Middle School teacher LaKeitha Austin also spoke, saying that new high schools in surrounding cities such as Bryant and Cabot look like colleges and universities while some Little Rock schools resemble buildings in the penal system.
"We need that southwest school," Austin said. "The violence is so bad, and I believe that if we have a new facility to offer those students, give them something to do, maybe they will get crime off their minds and on to education."
Sign-holding opponents to the tax extension watched the supporters from the sidelines.
Toney Orr, a parent and one of the opponents, said after the event that "they promise a dream and give us a nightmare." He said nothing is guaranteed about how the money from the bond issue would be spent. He also said the district has the money now to make building improvements but has failed to do so.
A total of 483 early votes were cast on the tax matter Tuesday, according to the Pulaski County Election Commission office.
Early voting continues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Friday and on Monday in the Pulaski County Regional Building, at 501 W. Markham St., in Little Rock.
Early voting hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Friday at the following locations:
• Sue Cowan Williams Library, 1800 S. Chester St.
• Southwest Community Center, 6401 Baseline Road.
• Second Presbyterian Youth Center, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive.
• West Central Community Center, 4521 John Barrow Road.
Polling locations will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on election day, May 9.
Metro on 05/03/2017