Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Bank Makes Presentation For Funds

A chance was sought by Kent Hendrix, executive vice president of the Nevada County Branch Bank of Delight.

He asked the Prescott School Board, at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, Dec. 14, to give the bank a chance to help with the bond money the district has received from the recent election.

Hendrix in a prepared speech, said the bank is one of the strongest in the state with a capital ratio twice what bank regulators require.

Additionally, he told the board the bank has had a strong presence in Prescott for many years, and a physical presence in the area since 1991.

The Bank of Delight, he said, bought the deposits and building of the old bankrupt First Federal of Arkansas from the Resolution Trust Corporation following the fiasco with the savings and loan industry.

"We hope our presence here has been good for the community and for the school, and we have tried our best to be a good corporate citizen," he said.

The bank, he continued, asked the district for a portion of its business on many occasions, but has yet to be successful in its efforts.

Currently, he said, the bank has none of the district's accounts, though many of its employees and patrons do business with the Branch Bank of Delight. "We believe we would be able to offer the district excellent service and very competitive rates of interest, and a more equitable distribution of the school's funds would benefit the school from both a financial and community support standpoint."

Hendrix said the bank pays more than $5,000 in property taxes, with this figure based on a valuation exceeding the fair market value of the property involved. Yet, he continued, the bank has never tried to get its taxes reduced because it doesn't want to penalize the school district.

The bank, he added, has purchased a clock for the football field, ads for the yearbook, uniforms for the band and helped in other ways.

This, he said, was done because the bank does business here and has an investment in the community.

The district recently received $3.2 million from the bond sale, with all of it being placed in the Bank of Prescott. Hendrix said it is more prudent to invest this money in a various of maturities until it is actually needed to pay for construction.

"I was hoping we would have an opportunity to offer the district some very good rates of interest on some of this extra' money, and also begin a banking relationship with the school district for the first time."

He told the board it was "disappointing" to not be asked what the bank's published rates were at the time, much less what it would offer on deposits this large.

"Imagine further my hurt," he said, "when I learned inquiries were made of out-of-town banks, but not us, regarding these funds."

Hendrix said this is not fair or in the best interest of the district.

Those at the bank, he continued, helped pass the bond issue by attending public meetings, making contributions to the campaign, putting blue ribbons on its doors, having the ribbons worn by employees and talking about it with customers.

When the bonds were sold the bank, he said, bought $355,000, or about 10 percent, of them. Yet when the funds were placed the bank didn't get the chance to quote a rate.

In closing, Hendrix asked the board to consider placing a fair portion of the bond funds in the Branch Bank of Delight as this would be "good business sense."

"We're here to stay, we're here to play and we want to be a part of it," he said.

The board agreed to take the matter into consideration, but made no promises as the meeting.

Prescott Head Football Coach and Athletic Director David Bennett addressed the board, introducing those players who made All District from the Curley Wolf football team.

In all 12 players were named to the team, with Bennett going to Little Rock to get those players for All State as well.

He read off their accomplishments during the season, with the players lauded by the board for their efforts on the gridiron.

Prescott Superintendent Ron Wright said he was "tickled" with the current enrollment, 1,110, as it's the highest it's been since he's been here.

The state funding, he said, is based on student population at the end of quarters, with the current quarter ending in January.

The board approved practice time during the holidays for the senior boys and girls basketball teams.

The boys team, it was pointed out, has had little practice as a unit as many of the players were involved in the football playoffs until Dec. 4.

But, the board decided, the coaches must be sensitive to the needs of their athletes families as this is the holiday season, and not punish the players if they aren't on time or miss practices.

In other business, Wright said the preliminary audit report for 1998-99 is in, with only one written recommendation from the auditors, and it being something almost every other district is written up for as well.

This recommendation, he said, deals with not having enough different people to handle the various fiscal accounts of the district. However, he pointed out, only one district in the state is in compliance.

The full audit will be ready in a few months.

Employees of the district were given a "Christmas" present, as the board approved bonuses for all.

Certified personnel were given $300, with non-certified awarded $200 while bus drivers got $100, less taxes.

Board member Kay Hendrix suggested administrators be given a bonus of $400, with the rest of the panel concurring.

Under the update part of the agenda, Wright said there is a small leak in the roof at Prescott Elementary School, but not in an area where repairs were recently made.

The leak, he said, can be patched with little problem.

Specifications are being written for other construction the district will be doing and require bids on.

The architects, he said, need a topographical map of the property to see the lay of the land and get a better idea of what will need to be done concerning the design of the proposed new gym.

On Jan. 6, 2000, he continued, visits to other district's gyms will be made. Wright said anyone in the community who is interested can make the trip as the trip bus will be used if enough want to go.

The group will visit gyms in Centerpoint, Jessieville and Fountain Lake, with Lakeside a possibility if time allows.

Those going will need to be at the school by 8:30 a.m.

The issue of school uniforms was broached, with Wright saying more homework needs to be done.

All districts in the state, he said, have to determine whether or not they will require students to wear uniforms. If the school board doesn't make a decision, then it will go before a vote of the people.

"I like the idea of uniforms personally," Wright said. "It's easier on the parents and safer for the students."

Board member George Odom also voiced support for uniforms, saying when he was in Houston, Texas, the incidents of trouble dropped when uniforms were required, while the grades went up.

When the issue was passed there, Odom said, the merchants worked with the public, dropping prices to make them affordable to all.

The board will take no immediate action on the uniform issue, but will appoint a committee to examine it. This group will include members of the staff, families of students and people from the community.