Gentry considers Decatur annexation
Posted on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
GENTRY ó A forced annexation of the Decatur School District into a neighboring district yet this summer was not viewed by the Gentry School Board as beneficial for students.
When the Arkansas State Board of Education makes its decision July 31 regarding annexing Decatur Schools into a contingent district, there would be little time for students or staff to prepare. Gentry teachers return to prepare for classes August 7, and Decatur students would have only about two weeks before classes are set to begin.
The Decatur School District was categorized as in fiscal distress by the state board on Monday. The state board, at its Monday meeting, also declined to force the Greenland School District to annex into a neighboring district. Greenlandís school board relinquished its authority to the state in order to keep the district open.
In regard to the Arkansas Department of Education recommendation that Decaturís school district be annexed into a contingent school district, the state board could do nothing but leave the district in the fiscal distress category; force Decatur to annex into another district; operate the district under state control; or allow the district the opportunity to continue for another year, following state guidelines, but having its own superintendent and school board.
ì Weíre hoping for the fourth option, î interim Decatur superintendent Bobby King told the Gentry School Board.
ì I believe Decatur should be allowed the chance to rectify its own problems, î Dr. Randy Barrett, superintendent of Gentry Schools, said. ì I hope that Decatur can solve its problems and have the chance to do that on their own. î
ì If not, and thatís a big ëif, íî Barrett said, ìand if it could be beneficial to both districts in terms of education and finances, I would accommodate the boardís decision, î Barrett said, adding that the state board could make a decision and give the local districts no say in the matter.
Barrett summarized testimony regarding the Greenland School District before the state board meeting in Little Rock Monday with two points which he said also applied to the Decatur School District 1. The timing for annexation is not good ó less than a month before teachers return in Greenland and only a week in Decaturís case. Annexation would disrupt the educational process for both districts (the annexed and the annexing district );
2. Efforts were made by the board, parents, students and staff to save the district. It would, therefore, seem fair to give the district a year to rectify the problems.
Barrett explained to Gentry board members that the receiving district in an annexation of the school district Decaturís size would receive an additional $ 1. 7 million dollars in the annexationís first year, half that amount in the second and no additional funding in the third year. He also provided in the school board packet (for informational purposes only ) a comparison chart showing school district size, millage levels, bonded debt and funding for the Decatur, Gentry, Gravette and Bentonville School Districts which showed that should Gentry and Decatur be combined by the state, the district size would be only slightly larger than Gravetteís school district is now.
Barrett told school board members that he or someone appointed by the board should attend the July 31 meeting in Little Rock and relay the boardís position regarding Decaturís possible annexation.
School board member Ted Dorn said the time issue should be brought before the board, but not the ìif annexedî portion of Barrettís opinion. He said he didnít want to give the board the opinion that Gentry was a willing partner to annexing in Decaturís district. ì That might make it easy for them, î he said.
ì I canít see where annexation would make either school better ó educationally or financially, î Dorn said. ì If the state did force annexation, some of the students would go to Gravette or Bentonville. Weíd get the bonded debt and a bigger district but only half the students, î Dorn said.
Dorn expressed concerns over what the annexation of the Winslow School District into Greenland did to the Geenland District. He also voiced his concern about costs to transport students from as far away as Centerton to Gentry should the state annex Decatur schools into the Gentry district.
ì If Greenlandís annexation is too close to the beginning of the new school year to be workable, the timeline is even worse for students in Decatur, î said school board chairman Keith Harper.
Should the Decatur Schools be annexed into the Gentry, the Gentry district would assume Decaturís bonded debt and staff. That could result in staff members being cut from both districts under Gentryís personnel policy which uses a point system based on education and years of service. An annexation would also result in an unbalanced mill levy, with Gentry paying 3 mils more that Decatur until a change is approved by Decatur district voters.
ì Itís premature to request numbers and put a pencil to it, î Barrett said. If the state forces the annexation, we will have to look at it then.
In other business, the school board approved the transfer requests of 26 students, 23 of those from Decatur into the Gentry School District. The Decatur transfers are no guarantee that the students will attend Gentry schools in August. Should the Decatur School District remain open and the students return to school in Decatur rather than Gentry, the transfers would be null and void, Barrett said.
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