Still not enough : State surprises Greenland with consolidation plans
Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2008
Hours after Tuesday’s millage election victory was certified by the Washington County Election Commission Friday, the Greenland School District received a letter stating that the Arkansas Department of Education plans to consolidate it.
Board President Bill Groom said he received a letter that the department plans to consider Greenland for annexation due to its fiscal distress status at the next Arkansas State Board of Education meeting on July 14. The department provided a copy of the letter, and it didn’t provide many other details except that it wanted to annex Greenland to a geographically contiguous district.
“ It’s a shock to me that they’re considering doing this by the fact that we passed a millage on Tuesday, ” Groom said. “ The timing seems really, really curious to me. ”
Department Spokeswoman Julie Thompson said late Friday afternoon that the millage wasn’t enough to address the projected $ 300, 000 budget shortfall and the department was concerned about the district’s ability to pay its employees.
“ They’re basically out of money, ” Thompson said. “ This is not something we do lightly. ”
State Commissioner Kenneth James began making his decision known Friday afternoon.
The letter also indicated that copies were sent to seven area state legislators and officials from the six districts Greenland borders to attend the meeting. Those districts are Fayetteville, West Fork, Farmington, Prairie Grove, Elkins and Mountainburg.
Fayetteville and West Fork have often been viewed as the most likely consolidation partners if the 930-student district was ever forced to consolidate.
On Thursday, Fayetteville Superintendent Bobby New commented on Greenland’s successful millage election. “ I’m excited for them. Greenland’s millage passing should take some pressure off them as far as any annexation or consolidation, ” he said.
On Friday, New said, “ I share the disappointment with Greenland and their school district patrons and board. Our reaction in Fayetteville is we will have an opportunity to sit down and consider what impact it will have on our school district. ”
Greenland was placed on the fiscal distress list in April due to a declining balance and projected shortfall.
The millage proposal to raise the tax rate by 2. 6 mills from 36. 9 to 39. 5 mills was intended to help address those problems. The proposal also included a bond debt restructuring which is expected to generate about $ 1 million for use on capital improvement projects by December.
Groom said he received word of the letter around 2 p. m. Friday. At 9 a. m., he had attended the election commission meeting where they certified the eight-vote millage victory.
The proposal passed 394-386.
The district had also made budget cuts and taken other measures designed to save $ 500, 000 next year.
Groom said he believed the department didn’t have “ current information” on the measures they had taken to reduce costs.
Groom and Superintendent Ron Brawner have said that in discussions with department officials this spring, officials expressed support for seeking the millage increase and bond debt restructuring.
Brawner could not be reached for comment Friday.
Groom said typically districts have two years to work off fiscal distress before they are annexed, although the department can mandate immediate changes if the situation is deemed dire enough.
If the millage had failed, the situation might be more understandable, he said, but even then, the district should have some time to improve itself.
“ It doesn’t make logical sense for them to do this right now, ” Groom said. “ My initial reaction is it smacks of something behind the scenes, but I don’t have any proof of that.... It’s blowing me away that they would be that heavy-handed. ”
“ The bottom line is the educational opportunity of the students, ” Thompson said. “ It’s no personal vendetta ever. ”
Community members and board members ran a “ save the school” campaign to get votes in favor of the millage increase.
Greenland Board member Ginger Fritch vowed to strongly oppose annexation, saying the department’s motives don’t seem to be students’ interests.
“ I don’t know why they’re doing this, but I will fight it with everything in me, ” she said.
Fritch said she hated the thought of students from her area going through another consolidation. She represents part of the former Winslow School District, which was annexed by Greenland in 2004 after a new state law demanded districts with less than 350 students consolidate. Both of Winslow’s schools were closed within three years of the consolidation.
The effects of the hurt feelings over the school closings were still apparent Tuesday. The vote on the millage proposal was 178-32 against it from Zones 6 and 7, which represent the Winslow patrons.
Annexation has a variety of implications for any district mandated to take over Greenland. This includes educating their students and possible changes in school board members and elections.
When Winslow was annexed, Greenland had to raise Winslow’s teacher’s salaries to match those offered on the Greenland campus. Fayetteville’s starting salary for teachers is currently about $ 10, 000 more than what Greenland offers, and West Fork also pays a higher salary than Greenland’s starting wage.
“ We would inherit debt, management issues as it relates to administration and their finances, ” New noted.
New said he will begin the process of evaluating how a potential annexation would impact Fayetteville. He said he won’t personally be able to attend the July 14 meeting due to a planned vacation, but someone will represent Fayetteville.
Since the 2004 consolidation law, the department has not approved any boundary line adjustments in conjunction with annexations and consolidations. Without an change to split the district among multiple neighbors, whoever is mandated to take them over would be responsible for students from Winslow to Greenland.
“ I’ve got to believe they would consider geography, ” New said. “ I will task my GIS (Geographic Information Systems ) department Monday morning to begin looking at the geographics of Greenland and the other districts. ”
The Greenland Board of Education will hold its next meeting, where the issue will likely be discussed, at 5 p. m. Monday on the Greenland campus.
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