Local school districts pay pretty penny for their thoughts
Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008
Attending the annexation hearing in Little Rock for the Greenland School District on Monday cost the Northwest Arkansas area thousands of dollars in travel expenses - meals, gasoline, mileage and hotel stays - plus indirect expenses of employee time for area school districts.
The Arkansas State Board of Education deferred annexation and instead approved a state takeover of the district. On Thursday, Greenland Board of Education members started receiving their official letters from the Arkansas Department of Education informing them they had been dismissed.
The Washington County Clerk's Office also received a notice from the state Thursday canceling the upcoming Zone 5 election for the school district.
Education Commissioner Ken James plans to appoint his own superintendent to run the district.
Education Department spokeswoman Julie Thompson said James hasn't hired an administrator yet, but the department will probably send out a press release when that happens.
Many districts paid for hotel stays in Little Rock the night before the meeting, which began at 9 a.m. Another expense was gas, which cost $ 3. 90 to $ 3. 99 per gallon along the interstate to Little Rock, which is about 180 miles from Greenland.
Although travel for school-related business is normally a district-reimbursed expense, now former Greenland school board President Bill Groom said all seven members decided to pay their own hotel, gas and food bills. Five members plus their contracted attorney, Pat Carithers, traveled Sunday, he said, while the others made early-morning commutes on Monday.
"It wasn't inexpensive," he said. "We decided we're just going to pay for it (ourselves ). There's no reason to further deplete the funds of the district. " Greenland interim Superintendent J. J. Gardenhire said he and three administrators who attended the meeting also paid for their own expenses and won't seek reimbursement from the district. He said he was among the district representatives who traveled Monday morning.
Fighting annexation The Fayetteville and West Fork school districts were considered the most likely candidates to annex Greenland if the state board had ordered that action. Fayetteville Board of Education President Steve Percival and seven school employees attended the meeting to argue Greenland should be given more time to work on its financial problems and that Fayetteville was not a good fit based on community dynamics. Percival referred to the strategy as "a show of force."
The most expensive part of the travel was hotel bills for the night preceding the meeting.
According to Fayetteville district spokesman Alan Wilbourn, the district paid for six hotel rooms at $ 159 each plus tax. This amounts to more than $ 1, 000.
The district's administration office also spent numerous hours evaluating the Greenland district, gauging the impact annexation might have on Fayetteville and gathering information to prepare for the meeting.
Still, Wilbourn said, the expenses were "a drop in the bucket"compared to what it would cost to annex the 930-student school district. If the merger had taken effect, the district would have had to raise Greenland teachers'salaries to match what Fayetteville offers plus assume control of the district's debts.
The Fayetteville district also would have canceled plans to implement a 2 percent raise for employees, he said.
"We were looking at it from what it would cost us to annex them, which is millions," Wilbourn said. "(The hotel cost ) was money wellspent."
In the presentation to the state board, Fayetteville officials rated the West Fork School District as Greenland's best fit for an annexation partner based on community dynamics and that most Greenland patrons seem to prefer a small-town school environment.
West Fork Superintendent Diane Barrett argued for giving Greenland more time and said the timing of the proposed annexation decision, five weeks before school starts, was not enough time to implement changes and would drain her district financially.
Asked about Fayetteville officials calling West Fork the best fit to annex Greenland, Barrett said," I knew they were going to say that."
Barrett and another district employee attended the meeting and stayed in Little Rock the previous night.
Also concerned The other four districts that border Greenland - Elkins, Prairie Grove, Farmington and Mountainburg - were considered less likely candidates for annexation. Most of their representatives argued that Greenland should be given more time and that they were not good geographic fits to take over the district. Education Department administrators displayed a map of Greenland and the surrounding districts. It was hung on a wall so state board members could see the districts' boundaries.
The state had requested all six of Greenland's neighboring districts send a representative for the hearing.
"Those are the kind of people you really don't want to irritate," said Elkins High School Principal Becky Martin, who represented that district.
Martin said she submitted a reimbursement request for $ 259 for a hotel room, meals and mileage. She addressed the board for about three minutes.
Newly hired Prairie Grove Superintendent Randy Willison spoke on behalf of that district. Willison served as associate superintendent in Fayetteville until the end of June, and at one point before the meeting, he had planned to also represent his former district at the hearing.
He and Percival later decided Fayetteville would have other administrators speak. This also helped clear up the issue of whether Fayetteville or Prairie Grove would pay for Willison's mileage.
At least two district administrators who attended the meeting, Farmington Superintendent Ron Wright and Mountainburg Superintendent Dennis Copeland, had to wait outside the room where the state board meets until their turn to speak for a few minutes.
Although the board's meeting room is called the "auditorium"of the Arch Ford Building on the Capitol grounds, it is a relatively small room. A sign by the door stated that it has a maximum capacity of 64 people by order of the fire marshal.
At the beginning of the meeting Monday, state board Chairman Randy Lawson told people standing by the walls in the room they had to wait outside because of fire code regulations.
"I had to wait in the outer room and watch it on monitors," Copeland said.
Wright said his major expenses for the trip were the hotel room, gas and meals. Copeland said he left the morning of the meeting, so his expenses were gas for the district-owned vehicle he used and about $ 25 in meals.
In addition, state Rep. Mark Martin, R-Prairie Grove; state Rep. Marilyn Edwards, D-Fayetteville; and state Sen. Ruth Whitaker, R-Cedarville; attended the meeting and made brief statements asking the board to give Greenland more time.
Also, Greenland parent Chris Arnold and Greenland police Chief Gary Ricker attended the meeting and spoke briefly during a public comment time.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
