Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

School Board Examines Amendment Two

Gurdon school board members attended the Arkansas School Board Association (ASBA), meeting on Oct. 9. At the brief October meeting, details of the meeting were given.

Board members Billy Tarpley and Stan Escalante accompanied Bobby Smithson, superintendent, to the ASBA meeting where discussion over two amendments took center stage.

Amendment 2 would provide all homeowners a property tax credit of $300, according to information provided. In order to make up for this tax credit, Act 1492 of 1999 will increase the sales tax by .5 percent.

Based on the information provided by the University of Arkansas, the additional .5 percent increase in sales tax will generate $194.9 million and the tax credit revenue loss is estimated to be $178.4 million. According to Smithson, if this information is correct, Amendment 2 will not adversely affect the revenue for the Gurdon school district.

In contrast, Amendment 4 will adversely affect the district's revenue. The current estimate is $216.45 in revenue loss for each student. With 900 students the loss in revenue per year for the district would be approximately, $194,806.

The amendment may eliminate the tax on used vehicles. This tax has been earmarked for the Educational Excellence Trust Fund.

The school board passed a resolution opposing Amendment 4.

A second resolution was signed by the board, suggesting Congress put money behind IDEA. Providing more funds for students with disabilities.

Teacher salary increases were also on the meeting's agenda. While Governor Mike Huckabee suggested increases in the range of $3,000 per year, a legislative committee recommended $1,500 per year. ASBA and its director, Dan Farley, according to information provided, has recommended $2,500 per year.

The ASBA hopes to reach a goal of meeting the average teacher's salary for the 16 state region in four years. Currently, Arkansas ranks 15th or 16th in teacher's salaries.

There is a national teacher shortage, according to Smithson.

Before the board re-elected the officers to serve another year, the Crossroads property details were relaid to the board by just re-elected president , Jesse Runyan.

Pioneer Abstract stated the property belongs to School District No. 61 after researching Clark County Deed Records. Smithson expressed relief after learning there would be no problem with a revisions clause. The land would not have been returned to a previous owner.

The details will now be sent to an attorney to investigate the school's ownership of the property.

Smithson said, "I feel fairly certain it belongs to us."

Runyan reiterated, "I think we need to resolve the issue . . . take it to an attorney and have the information ready for the next meeting."