Bentonville School District eyeing 2027 for next millage request

BENTONVILLE -- School District officials anticipate asking voters for a millage increase in about six years to finance facility needs.

It's too early to say how much of an increase the district will need, but the purpose would be to pay for construction of a third high school, a fifth junior high and a 15th elementary, said Janet Schwanhausser, deputy superintendent and chief financial officer for the district.

Schwanhausser shared that information while presenting an updated, 10-year facilities plan during the School Board's work session Thursday.

The plan lays out what schools should be built and when, based on the assumption the district's enrollment -- now at 18,550 students in grades K-12 -- will increase 3.5% every year.

Voters approved the district's last millage increase in 2017. That 1.9-mill increase provided funding for four new schools: Evening Star Elementary and Grimsley Junior High schools, which opened in 2019 and 2020, respectively; a 13th elementary school set to open next year; and a sixth middle school planned to open in 2027.

That millage increase brought the district's millage rate to 48.5, second highest among Northwest Arkansas school districts. The Pea Ridge School District has the highest rate at 48.7 mills.

The district also plans to open its 14th elementary school in 2027. The time is two years later than administrators previously had planned because the district's enrollment growth has slowed a bit, Schwanhausser said.

It's possible the district will be able to save enough money between now and then to build the 14th elementary if property values in the district continue to increase at the rate they have the past several years, she said. Otherwise, the district probably would do a second lien on its current bonds and increase its annual debt payment to cover the cost, Schwanhausser said. In any case, a tax increase won't be necessary to build the 14th elementary, she said.

The next set of schools -- the high school, junior high school and elementary school -- would open in 2029 or 2030, according to the plan.

Administrators have not settled on locations for any of the schools.

Another major facility project in the plan is the addition of two wings at West High School, scheduled for completion in 2024. It's estimated that project will cost $21.5 million, which will be paid entirely with money the district plans to save in its building fund, Schwanhausser said.

The West High project will increase the district's student capacity for grade levels 9-12 from 6,550 to 7,050. Total enrollment for the high school grades is expected to reach 6,043 in the 2024-25 school year and 6,522 in the 2025-26 year.

Bentonville High's enrollment as of Oct. 1 was 3,071. The school's ideal capacity is 3,750 students. West High has 2,223 students; its capacity is 2,800, according to the district.

West High School's enrollment is growing at a rate of about 2.5% per year, while Bentonville High School's enrollment is growing 1% per year, said Superintendent Debbie Jones.

Enrollment projections show a districtwide total of 6,936 students at the high school level in the 2028-29 school year, about 100 students fewer than what capacity will be at that time. The following year is when the third high school is scheduled to open, according to the facilities plan.

The board's facilities discussion Thursday also touched on what to do with the district's older buildings clustered in and around the downtown area, far from the more densely populated -- and more rapidly growing -- south and west portions of the district. Those buildings include Baker, Sugar Creek and Thomas Jefferson elementary schools.

Matt Burgess, a board member, asked about the possibility of retiring one of those buildings as schools.

"As long as we continue to grow at the pace we're growing, it's going to be really difficult to close one of the buildings," Jones said. "And the buildings, while they're not brand new, they're in really good shape."

Jones said it would be smart to begin exploring potential plans for the downtown schools. The construction of Walmart's new headquarters east of downtown, and how that will affect development in the area, is worth watching first, she said.

"I would like just a little bit more information once they get the home office built," Jones said.

At its meeting Tuesday, the board voted to begin the search for a demographic professional to help the district make zoning decisions. On Thursday, board members mentioned how that demographer should help the district make decisions such as what to do with downtown schools.