Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Blevins Millage Election Is Tuesday

A special election has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 14 for voters in the Blevins School District.

The voters are being asked to rededicate an existing 8.1 mill for debt service so the district can sell bond issues for $1.1 million and upgrade the current facilities.

According to Blevins Superintendent Donnie Davis, this millage was approved 20 or 21 years ago when Blevins High School was built. It is about to be paid off and the district needs the money to help make improvements.

A series of four public meetings have been held to inform the district's voters what the money will be used for. The last of these meetings was Thursday, March 2, in the BHS cafetorium.

Davis pointed out this is not a new tax and no millage increase is being sought. This is a millage already on the books to be rededicated for other use.

Some of the work the district would like to do with the funds, Davis said, include paying off a $100,000 lease-purchase agreement.

In addition, a new 10 classroom building would be constructed adjacent to the current elementary school.

The cafetorium would be enlarged with a stage and more space added on to the end of the existing building.

Davis said the old elementary rooms replaced by the 10 new ones would be renovated and used for other purposes. These rooms would be made more energy efficient as some of them have floor to ceiling windows which would be sealed in.

Renovation to the old building would begin once construction of the new rooms has been completed, he said.

One of the most important aspects of the upgrade, he said, will be to improve the electrical supply to each room so the district can take better advantage of today's technology.

The current elementary school, Davis said, was built 40 or 50 years ago and many of the rooms only have one electrical outlet.

The district, he said, doesn't want to put a lot of money into the old building, but, instead, use the money from the bond wisely and relocate some of the existing programs.

One idea is to begin a gifted and talented program in elementary school, using some of the old building to house it.

At this time, Davis said, there are portable buildings on campus that have a relatively short useable lifespan and need to be removed.

The programs housed in these buildings would be transferred into renovated rooms at the elementary school.

The district also has the opportunity to purchase 46 acres of land adjoining school property, Davis said.

The land is owned by two sisters, one who lives out of state and the other living in a different part of Arkansas. The two have ties to the Blevins district as their father may have been the school's superintendent at one time, Davis said.

It is unusual to find land for sale next to school property, he said, and the district is looking closely at making the purchase.

However, no price has been discussed for the land as yet, and the cost will be a factor in the final decision.

Should the voters approve the rededication of the millage, he said, bonds for $1.1 million will be sold and repaid over a 22-year period.